Next Chapter. A friendly moment between Ryan and Emily. Drama is coming up really soon.

She's engaged. Ryan sits in the café by himself as he drinks his coffee and every once in a while, he would look outside and his mind begins to wander off. You're too late.

Finally, he gets up from his seat and puts down a few bucks on the table. He gets out of the café and the cold January breeze blows against his face. He zips up his black coat and puts his hands in his pocket to keep warm.

He remembers back to his first year at Harbor, at the kick-off carnival. For once in his life, he opened up to a girl and it seemed to have worked. He smiles at the memory of him being so scared up on that Ferris wheel and yet, it had been one of the best nights of his life. Despite everything that happened afterwards, it had been one of the best.

He walks into his building and gets in the elevator and watches the numbers change, until finally, it gets to 35 and the door opens. He sees Emily sitting at her desk and begins to walk towards her.

Emily looks up from her desk and smiles, "So? How'd it go?" She asks.

Ryan forces a smile and leans back at the edge of the desk, "It was good to see her." He says plainly, not looking at her.

Emily frowns, "That's it?" she asks, "You guys haven't seen each other for 3 years and all you could say is 'It was good to see her'? Geez, Atwood, I thought you guys had a history."

Ryan lets out a laugh and looks at Emily, "She's engaged." He utters, and all of a sudden, that heart wrenching pain comes rushing back.

Emily looks at him sympathetically, "Oh. I'm sorry." She utters.

Ryan shakes his head, "Don't be." He says, "It should've been a given. She's moved on, and she's happy now. So I'm happy."

Emily lets out a sigh and looks at Ryan, "You think she's happy?" she asks.

"Well, yeah. She said he was a good guy." Ryan replies.

"Well, she is engaged to him, so he should be a good guy, but do you honestly think she's happy?" she asks again, "I mean, you've known her for years right? Hell, you guys dated like a million times." Ryan laughs and Emily continues, "What did she say when she showed you her ring?" she asks.

"She didn't show it to me, I noticed it on her finger." Ryan explains.

Emily raises one eyebrow and nods her head, "Oh, I see. And what did she say?"

"Not much. I asked him his name. She said Josh. I asked her what he was like, and she said he was pretty great." Ryan explains, re-living the conversation and remembers the way Marissa pulled her hand away when Ryan mentioned the ring.

Emily makes a small "Ohhh" sound and nods.

Ryan lets out a laugh and thinks about it for a moment and looks at Emily, "I've got work to do." He says, but not moving from his spot at all.

"Look, Ryan." Emily begins, "You said you guys have this huge history right?" Ryan nods, "And your two best friends, who are also Marissa's best friends, say that Marissa left Newport because she probably thought she's made enough damage to your life and you deserve a break, right?" Emily asks, and Ryan remembers back to what Summer said and he nods, "Okay, and now, three years later, she suddenly comes back to see you, unexpected and you guys have this incredible hug…I saw it, I was there."

Ryan smiles, remembering how good it felt to hold Marissa again after all those years and then looks at Emily, "Okay, where exactly are you getting at?" he asks.

"Well, I'm just trying to piece things together, and speaking as a woman myself, I think, this girl still has feelings for you." Emily utters in an "as-a-matter-of-fact" tone in her voice. Ryan shakes his head and Emily continues, "Ryan, we both know that you still love her." She says, "At least tell her how you feel, and if she doesn't feel the same way, then fine."

"Yeah, easy for you to say." Ryan retorts.

"Well at least you'd know you could move on." Emily says softly, "Instead of wondering what could've happened."

Ryan looks down at his feet and imagines how he could even begin to explain what he feels about Marissa to Marissa. It's not an easy task to talk about your feelings, especially for an Atwood, but he's done it before hasn't he? And it worked out pretty well.

"Talk to her, Ryan." Emily continues, "You owe yourself that much." Ryan nods his head

and Emily smiles, "Okay, now go and get some work done. We've still got a long day ahead of us." She says as she sits back on her chair and begins looking at papers.

Ryan lets out a laugh and looks at Emily, "Thanks, Em." He says softly, "I really appreciate it."

Emily smiles at him and nods, "What are secretaries for, right?"

Ryan returns the smile and walks into his office.