The News gets out

Ryan quietly showered and changed and when he emerged from the bathroom, Marissa was still asleep. Much as he wanted to, he didn't feel comfortable with sharing a bed with her until they had talked about everything that had happened and so he went and made himself a coffee and sat in the lounge, still trying to warm up. It was nearly 7 in the morning and he'd had no sleep but he still kept going over everything in his mind. He was getting no where. After going round and round in circles yet again he eventually laid down where he was on the sofa and finally fell into a restless slumber.

---

Marissa awoke with a start. She looked at the clock and realised that she was going to be late for work.

She rolled over and realised that Ryan was still not there and quickly picked up the phone to call him again only to be greeted by his voicemail yet again. The last thing she wanted to do was go to work but she knew that she had to. It was the final fitting and rehearsal for the Chanel parade at Fashion Week next Tuesday. She had to turn up. As she dragged herself out of bed to go to the bathroom she noticed Ryan's clothes on the bedroom floor and quickly moved into the lounge room looking for him only to find him curled up on the sofa fast asleep. She contemplated waking him knowing that they had so many things to talk about but then thought better of it. Even though he was asleep he looked troubled and the conversation that they needed to have could not be rushed. It was too important. And she needed to be somewhere else already. She decided to leave him rest and quickly got ready for work and then wrote him a note and silently let herself out of the apartment.

---

Sometime later Ryan stirred. He was stiff and uncomfortable and as he opened his eyes he realised that it was bright daylight. Glancing at his watch he was amazed to see that it was after 12. He swung his legs to the ground knowing that he couldn't put off talking to Marissa any longer and as he went to stand up he saw a note had been placed on the small coffee table in front of him. Picking it up, he unfolded it to read.

Ryan,

I had to go to work so I decided to let you sleep.

I'm so sorry for everything. Please forgive me. You know that I love you. I always have and I always will. I'll be home as soon as I can.

Love always.

Marissa.

Ryan refolded the letter and made his way into the kitchen to make some coffee. He knew that Marissa loved him in her own way. He didn't doubt that. But was it enough? Would she ever stop lying to him? He was stiff and sore. Whether it was from wandering the streets all night or from the cramped confines of the sofa he wasn't sure. He decided to take a hot shower to see if it might help and tried to go over everything that had happened. He knew that he still had no answers. He hoped that when Marissa returned that maybe she could explain to him exactly why she felt the need to lie to him but until then he needed to get his mind on something else. Otherwise he would go around the twist. After the shower he decided to try to work but realised that he had left his cell phone at the club the previous evening. It was in the pocket of his jacket. And so he decided that he'd go and collect it. A bit of fresh air might do him good before he had to face the inevitable conversation with Marissa. In truth he wasn't really sure if perhaps he wasn't trying to avoid the confrontation but he figured that it was a good excuse plus he may actually be back before her anyhow.

He was still so confused about everything.

---

Marissa was having trouble concentrating. All she could think about was making things right with Ryan. Plus she had to tell him about the fact that she had accidentally let out their secret. She didn't know why she had done it. It had just come out. She'd been trying to explain to Sasha and Karl just how important Ryan was to her. And obviously someone – she assumed Sasha – had nicely told the press because when she had emerged from the apartment that morning she had immediately been swamped by questions about her marital state. She had remained silent but she needed to tell Ryan before he found out the hard way. Even some of the other models had been quizzing her.

After stuffing up for about the tenth time, Claudine the director of the show called her out. "What is wrong with you Marissa? You don't seem to have your mind on the job at all. I've never seen you like this." she asked.

"Um. I'm sorry. I'm not feeling very well." Marissa replied looking for an excuse for her behaviour. She knew that she had been terrible all morning. Besides having her mind elsewhere she'd also only had a couple of hours sleep. So that wasn't helping. She had stumbled and fumbled and missed cues all day.

"Well then perhaps you should go home. You are only making things more difficult here for everyone." Claudine said exasperated.

"I'm sorry. I promise that I'll be better on Tuesday."

"I certainly hope so. Just make sure that you are here early so I can run through everything with you before the show starts." Claudine demanded.

"Okay. I will. I'm really sorry." Marisa apologised.

Claudine didn't wait to reply but walked off leaving Marissa looking after her. She had always thought of Claudine as a friend. They had worked together for a long time. But obviously the friendship only worked while Marissa was on her game.

As quickly as possible, Marissa left and made her way home. When she saw the number of paparazzi waiting for her she thought about calling Ryan to come and help but decided against it. She'd created this monster. She'd have to deal with it alone.

---

Ryan was just leaving the club, jacket and phone safely returned when his phone started to ring. He smiled as he looked at the caller id. He wondered what Seth would have to report and whether the wedding plans were actually progressing.

"Hey."

"Hey bro. So you're talking to me this time?" Seth asked.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked puzzled.

"Well after Marissa's call last night, I tried calling you but you wouldn't answer." Seth explained.

"Sorry. I didn't have my phone with me. I've just gotten it back. But … Marissa called you last night?" Ryan asked. He wondered why she had done that.

"Yeah she did. She was looking for you. Obviously you turned up. And everything's okay with you two?" Seth asked.

Ryan hesitated. He wasn't sure how to answer. "Um…"

"Don't um me. What's going on over there? First Summer gets a call from Marissa having a melt down because she lied to you or something and then she and Marissa end up having a big fight because Summer takes your side. And then Summer's all panic stricken about what she said to Marissa and whether you two are reverting to your teenage mode and self destructing."

"Yeah well …" Ryan started to say only to be cut off.

" … And then the next thing I know we get a call this morning from some guy wanting to know if you're married?" Seth laughed. "I mean how ridiculous. Here we are concerned that you're breaking up again and someone thinks you're married. They even called Mom and Dad. Where do they come up with this stuff? As if you'd ever get married without us being there?" Seth commented.

Ryan felt ill. He now knew why there were so many paparazzi outside the apartment when he'd left that morning. Once he'd seen them, he'd actually decided to leave by the back door to avoid them. But how did they know? Who had told them? He was pretty sure that Keith wouldn't have. Which meant either Annabel or Marissa. Much as he didn't want to think that it was Marissa … he knew that after last night anything was possible. Maybe he didn't really know her at all. Everything was going around and around in his mind. Was he just naïve to think that what he and Marissa had was the real thing? Maybe she wasn't the person he thought she was. They'd spent a long time apart. Maybe she'd changed and he just hadn't spent enough time with her to realise. He needed to talk to her. And now.

"Ryan? Are you still there?" Seth asked interrupting Ryan from his thoughts.

"Yeah sorry. I was just thinking about something." Ryan replied.

"What?" Seth asked. "You're acting really weird."

"Sorry. There's just been a lot going on and I haven't had much sleep." Ryan explained.

"Well that's not unusual for you two. You do know that beds are meant for sleep? I gather when you two hit a bed together you're too busy doing the horizontal mambo to get any rest at all."

"That's not the problem… " Ryan started.

"Just tell me that you're not married so that I can stop Summer from having a meltdown."

"I …" Ryan wanted to lie but he knew that was the exact thing that had caused them all their problems in the first place. How could he expect Marissa not to lie if he was doing it? He was going to have to tell Seth. But how? He decided to keep it simple. "I'm sorry." Was all he could say?

"You're sorry?" Seth asked. "What do you mean you're sorry?"

"Last weekend. In Vegas." Ryan started.

Seth was momentarily stunned and then finally found his voice. "You're… you're telling me that you ARE married? You GOT married? Without us?"

"It just happened. We …"

"No Ryan. Weddings don't just happen. Let me assure you. I'm living through the making of a wedding and there is nothing further from the truth than they 'just happen'. How could you man? Do we mean so little to you? Don't you realise how long we've all waited for this? What about Mom and Dad? They'll be heart broken."

Ryan knew that he had to try to explain that they were going to tell them but just not until Seth and Summer were married. "Seth we just wanted to wait until …"

Seth cut him off. "Obviously the one thing you didn't do was wait. " Seth replied hurting from the thought of Ryan and Marissa taking such a monumental step without them. "If Marissa's melt down showed anything last night maybe it showed that you should have waited. But then how would I know? It's not as if you needed to share any of this with me."

"Seth let me explain."

"Don't bother. I'm sorry I troubled you." Seth said and hung up.