Hello all! Here is the chapter that I think you've been waiting for….Greece! Now, this is not going to end the way I know most of you (and myself) want it to….but, it will open the doors wide for multiple opportunities. Preview for the next chapters: Julie/Neil disagree about Caitlyn, Kirsten's priorities are changing, Seth seeks advice from someone he hopes he can trust, the newness of living together wears off for Volchek and Caitlyn.

Chapter XV: Across the Universe

Hailey had never been to Greece. Her worldwide travels had spanned most of the globe, but Hailey had never made it here before. She wasn't even sure what she was doing here…just following a gut instinct in her heart that Jimmy needed her. Waiting at the baggage claim, Hailey hoped that she hadn't come here for nothing. As she struggled to lift her black Louis Vuitton bag, Hailey bumped into another person, sending them both crashing to the ground.

"Hey…watch where you're going…you could've killed m…Ryan?"

Ryan blinked his eyes multiple times to make sure that he wasn't still asleep in the plane. Nope, he wasn't. That was Hailey standing right in front of him. What was she doing here?

"Hailey…what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same question. But, something tells me I may already know the answer," she replied, a small smile creeping onto her face as she pondered the likelihood of the two of them being here for similar purposes. "Here…help me with my bags, and we'll go grab a coffee."

Ryan followed Hailey to the conveyor, grabbing a cart to put both of their bags in. He had already grabbed his stuff, so he shoved his duffle bag in the bottom of the cart before grabbing Hailey's bags. He was still unsure of why she was here; maybe she was on business with her company. But, she didn't look like she was dressed for business. Either way, Ryan was glad to have someone in his corner during this sure-to-be interesting adventure. Maybe she could give him some advice on how to approach this whole Marissa-Paolo engagement thing.

They made their way in silence towards the airport coffee shop. Ryan ordered a black coffee with two sugars.

Looking over at him with a warm smile, Hailey remarked, "Some things never change, huh?"

He smiled back, blushing at how she could see right through him. He hoped that when he did see Marissa that she wouldn't notice how nervous he really was. But, if he was honest with himself, he knew that the chances of that were slim to none. Sitting down at a nearby table, Ryan blew lightly on the steaming cup of brew before taking a sip. He exhaled slightly as he let the caffeine re-energize him. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, forgetting where he was, Ryan imagined the look on her face when she saw that he had came halfway across the world to see her

"So…Sandy and Kirsten agreed to fund your cross-continent skirt-chasing?" Hailey smirked, teasing her nephew for the same thing that she herself was doing. She sat across the small table just outside the quaint café, glancing around to intake the culture that had engulfed the loves of both of their lives.

Ryan shrugged in accordance, avoiding eye contact with her due to embarrassment over her accuracy at calling him out. He was curious as to why his aunt was also in town. She was probably on business. Maybe he could stay with her.

"So, what about you? Here on business?"

Hailey shook her head. There was no use in trying to cover up her true intentions for this visit. "Nope, actually, I'm here on a similar quest. Honestly, I'm not sure what led me here…I just talked to Marissa the other day, and I guess…I got a little nostalgic. So, I took a few days off work. Just wanted to see if he thought of me half as much as I think of him."She ducked her head down, taking a small sip from her latte.

Ryan was bewildered by this answer. Could it be that he was not the only person in the world pining over the mistakes they had made? This insight gave him a newfound sense of confidence. If Hailey could do it, then he could definitely do it.

"Do you have a place to stay yet?" he asked, finally having the courage to look into her eyes.

Hailey smiled at his earnestness. At first, she had been very wary of this kid that Sandy and Kirsten had adopted. She thought they had been crazy to let an ex-convict move in with them; she assumed they were getting soft in their old age, or that maybe Seth was driving them crazy with his incessant nagging about how he had no friends in Newport. But, getting to know him better, she quickly understood what had jumped out about Ryan. He was different, and it hadn't taken her very long to see that.

"Well, I called a few places before I left Tokyo…but, none of them had openings. I was kinda hoping that Jimmy would see me…tell me how much he had been missing me, and invite me to stay on the boat."

Her wish had sounded so much like Ryan's that he couldn't help but sympathize for her. Taking another long sip from his coffee, he sat in silence, trying to figure out their next move. It would probably behoove them to think about getting a hotel for the night. Kirsten had provided him with the emergency credit card, so that should be no problem. That way they could brainstorm and tackle this clear-headed first thing in the morning.

"Look, why don't we find a hotel…get some sleep, and we'll figure out our next move over dinner?"

Hailey nodded in agreement.

"Sounds like a plan. You lead the way."

They dropped their coffee cups in the airport wastebasket and left through the doors with anticipation flowing through their bodies. Could anything possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, Paolo was deep in thought. He had decided that tonight was the night that he was going to ask Marissa to be his girlfriend. Lately, she had seemed to be more receptive to his advances. He thought that maybe, just maybe, she was finally ready to see him in that light. Figuring he'll never know if he doesn't at least try, he had set up what he perceived as the ultimate date for the two of them. He had asked Jimmy for assistance with his plan by allowing Marissa to take the night off, which he had easily agreed to do.

Carefully examining the cabin he had decorated with flowers, candles, and various other romantic décor, Paolo hoped that this gesture evoked within Marissa what she had been evoking from him since the day they first met. He didn't want to come off as trying to hard or being too desperate, but he still knew that he had to get his point across. This was the girl for him, and, as soon as she realized that pining over a lost love was not the way to live, she would recognize it too.

So deep was he in his own thoughts that Paolo jumped when there came a knock at his door. Running over to see who it was, he smiled to himself when he saw Marissa's impatient frame standing outside the door tapping her black sling-backs against the beige carpeted floor.

"Paolo? Are you in there? My dad told me to come find you…that you had something you needed my help with? What's going on?"

Chuckling at her restlessness, Paolo opened the door only enough to slip himself out. He quickly shut the door to the room, much to the chagrin of a curious Marissa. She sat there with her furrowed eyebrows questioning his erratic, atypical behavior. Quickly dismissing her unspoken questions, Paolo hurried them away from the room and down the hall towards the main exit. Grabbing her by the hand as he had often done before, he couldn't help but feel an extra bolt of electricity tonight knowing what was possibly to come.

"Okay…I guess this is meant to be a surprise then? Okay, I can handle surprises," she said, still not really convincing either of them that what she was saying was true. Smirking at her knowing that she was just trying to sucker him into feeling sorry for her and letting her in on the secret, Paolo did not relent.

"Sorry. I know you too well. You aren't going to dupe me into anything tonight. I'm sticking to the gun."

Marissa couldn't help but laugh at Paolo's incorrect translation of American slang. It was something that endeared him to her. Looking over at him, she felt that something about tonight was definitely different than most usual nights on the boat. Sensing that Paolo was acting more nervous than normal, Marissa suspected that he had either done something wrong or was planning something for her.

"What? Did I not say that right?" he asked, confused as to what she was giggling at.

Walking down the ramp towards shore, Paolo scanned the horizon for the car that he had rented for the night. Since it seemed like they were always working, there hadn't been much time for exploring the main land. Marissa hadn't even made it to see Athens, so, tonight Paolo had planned to take her out to enjoy the local food and dancing.

"No…it's fine. I was just thinking about how mad the crew's gonna be when they see that I'm not working tonight. Does my dad know about this?"

"Marissa, don't worry about that. I took care of it." Paolo flashed her a knowing smile, openly enjoying her obliviousness. He ushered Marissa off the end of the boat ramp, and they stopped for a moment to look back at the place they now called home. As he spotted the car out of the corner of his eye, Paolo motioned for Marissa to follow him. As he opened the car door for her, Marissa's curiosity gave way to an overwhelming feeling of dread. Not that she didn't love to be taken care of, especially from a guy as sweet and hot as Paolo. But, she was dreading the moment later in the night when she knew she was going to be put on the spot again about their potential relationship.

"Okay…good. Didn't want him having a heart attack when he didn't know where I was."

"I promise…you're covered. Now, let's jet. We need the night off to just spend being young tourists."

With that said, she sat in the crisp, blue Honda Accord, and with Paolo, sped off towards an unknown adventure. But, she couldn't help but feel like this night was bound to end in heartache.

Later that afternoon, Ryan and Hailey had settled into their hotel room after several hours of searching for somewhere with an open room. Dropping her weighted bags, Hailey silently cursed herself for becoming one of those women that she used to despise who packed everything but the kitchen sink. But, since she was unsure of long this visit may last, she wanted to be prepared.

"Man, I can't believe that this was the ONLY place with vacancies. I mean…it's not bad, believe me…I've stayed in worse…way worse. But, I guess I should've booked ahead."

Ryan looked over at his aunt, who had plopped herself onto the first full bed in their joint room. There had always been something about Hailey that had been intriguing to Ryan; it was probably their similarities, their penchant for loving troubled souls, and their habit of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Whatever it was, he was really thankful that this task was no longer his alone.

"So, what's the game plan, lover boy? Or are you just making it up as you go too? Nah…" Hailey continued as she propped her head up onto her hands, resting her elbows against the worn, blue paisley comforter, "Something tells me that you've been thinking about this moment since Marissa left for Greece. So, tell me, what happened with you two? I mean, when I left, I thought things were going pretty well."

Ryan leaned back against the stiff, wooden headboard of his twin bed. Searching the bland, Grecian décor for some clue as to how to answer this question that had long-plagued his internal thoughts, Ryan finally succumbed to the realization that he had been at fault for everything. Marissa had desperately wanted him to insist that she not get on that plane, that she stay and go to Berkeley with him. And, truthfully, that was the one thing that he had wanted too…more than anything else in the world. Shifting uncomfortably on the hard-as-a-rock mattress, Ryan knew that this was his last-ditch effort to win her back. If this didn't work, then he was out of grand gestures, and he would just have to live with his mistake for the rest of his life.

"Ryan? HELLO?"

Ryan turned his head to see his concerned aunt with eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. He really didn't want to talk about it, but he knew that she would not let this case go so easily.

"I don't know…honestly, it was all my fault. And…now that there might be a fiancé in the picture, I HAVE to make it right."

Hailey nodded her head in understanding, somewhat taken aback that Marissa had gotten engaged so young. But, she and Ryan, they were both in the same boat. She had no reason to believe that Jimmy hadn't moved on with some gorgeous Grecian goddess. But, they both had to push those thoughts out of their minds if they were going to focus on the task at hand.

"Ryan, listen to me," she stated, urging him to look at her, "She loves you. Everyone knows that. Let's finish getting unpacked…go grab a quick bite, and figure out our plan of attack."

Ryan agreed, and they continued organizing and putting away their stuff in silence. As they were leaving the hotel, Hailey asked for a good local café to get a taste of traditional Greek cuisine. The concierge suggested a place nearby called Tapinade, known around town for it's delicious olive-based meals. Thanking the young man, Hailey and Ryan headed out the front door of the hotel and into the midst of Athens at dusk.