A/N Here's the next part, hope you like it. Please R&R. Thanks.

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"Hey, I didn't hear you come in last night…"

Ryan walked out of his bedroom having changed from his shower and on his way to meet Marissa for breakfast. "Yeah, I ended up falling asleep at a friend's house." He made his way to the kitchen to pour himself some coffee.

"I just want to apologize for yesterday. I just really didn't want to get into it straight away…so that's why I tried to avoid it…"

Ryan expressed a look that showed he understood and sipped his beverage.

She paused for a moment thinking of how to word what she was about to say, "I still don't really want to get into it now, but I know it must look confusing…why I'm with him."

Ryan shook his head as he looked down to the kitchen tiling. "Don't worry about it. It really is none of my business."

"I just at least have to say that, a few years back I was in a really bad way, and if it wasn't for him I really don't know where I'd be now…I don't really know how to just walk away from that, he's all I've known for so long now…Stupid right?" Sarah sat there looking lost, not really knowing why she felt she could confide in this guy, her roommate, whom she's only known for a short while, but she could.

He stood there just watching her, nodding his head was the only thing he could do; observing this beautiful girl, with a spirit that seemed it was slowly being taken away from her. While others may conclude she lacked humility, he was beginning to see a girl who was just scared, acting in a way that contradicted how she felt in order to hide who she really was…

Now noticing he was actually dressed again to go out, she asked "Anyway, enough about that. What're your plans today?" She tried to say upbeat.

He took one last sip of his coffee and emptied the rest into the sink, "I'm going to meet Marissa today."

"Oh…" she said slightly faltering, a little disappointed on the inside that he was leaving.

"Yeah, you know just catch up, haven't seen much of her that's all." He said casually. "Anyhow, I should be off, I'll see you later." Ryan said as he made his way out, patting her shoulder before he left. "It'll be okay", he said, like any friend would.

She looked up at him and put on a smile, "Yeah…Have fun today."

"Thanks" and before she knew it he was out the door.

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"Oh my God, Ryan you have to try this, quick." Marissa encouraged, as she was tried to force feed him a bite of her caramel waffles.

He thought about it for a second, "Yeah, that's pretty good", giving his verdict as he finished swallowing.

She grabbed her fork and took a small piece of Ryan's blueberry pancakes, "This is amazing, no wonder you love it so much", now taking her fork once more to take another bite. "So tell me again what happened with this Roy guy?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. Yesterday I think they had some argument, but from what I gather he seems to be a jerk."

"So why do you think she stays with him?"

He answered as he took another bite now out of Marissa's plate. "Apparently he helped her out a long time ago with some pretty serious stuff."

"Like?" Marissa persisted.

"Not too sure, she didn't say and I didn't want to push it. She just thinks she owes it to him to stay for some reason. One time I was in my room and I could hear him yelling at her just to get her to change her outfit, calling her names and stuff."

"Wow, he really does sound like a sleaze", she said now actually sounding a little bad for Sarah. "She just seems so – confident. You know? Like a 'takes no crap' kind of girl."

"Yeah, I think most of the time it's kind of like a façade, so nobody will think she's vulnerable I guess…"

Marissa wasn't sure she should ask her next question; does she really want to know? "How are you finding everything, like living with her?" She finished less enthused looking down trying to become preoccupied with something else.

"Yeah, good, we get along well" he said not thinking much of it as he aimed his fork to take another piece from his plate. "…you know, as far as roommates go." He soon after added for Marissa's sake upon seeing her face that seemed to be hiding an ulterior emotion.

Marissa altered her tone in attempts to change the subject, "I feel like it's been forever since we did anything together." She smiled, "I hope you were missing me like crazy, Atwood." She giggled at her little joke.

He laughed amused at her last comment, which on the inside he knew there was truth in what she just said. "I have an idea…" He said suggestively.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Marissa inquired becoming intrigued.

"Well…" he began, "we can always watch a movie later, but I was thinking, we've been here in San Francisco for months now, and none of us have bothered to really go out and see what's out there. So I thought we should spend the day out, go and do a bit exploring or something, around the city and stuff." Ryan said as he watched a smile form on her face. "What do you think?" He asked as he smiled back at her.

"Really?" She responded with excitement. "We can like, shop and stuff?"

"Woah, I didn't say anything about shopping."

"Yeah you did." She stated.

He smiled to himself and shook his head. It never ceased to amaze him how he would let her get away with pulling that over him, always finding it hard to say no to her.

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The day was incomparable, the clouds were nowhere to be found, and the sun hung in the sky all by itself. Just like tourists they explored the city that would be the closest thing to home for the next few years, only now taking the time to appreciate what it had to offer.

"Will you marry me?"

The two rode the cable cars through the sloped streets, as an old man that looked in about his seventies approached Marissa for her hand in marriage. Marissa smiled at the sweet old man who meant no harm and decided to just play along.

"That's very sweet of you…" She replied warmly.

"Please?" The old man asked hopeful.

"I don't think I'll be a good enough wife for you." She said with a smile. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name…"

"Frank…I'm sure you'd be okay, I'm easy to live with."

"I'm very sure you are" she said not wanting to hurt his feelings, although she knew he may not remember this even happening after another ten minutes.

Ryan just observed this little scene play out in front of him and couldn't help but be entertained, but decided he'd just step in to help her. "I'm sorry Frank, I already asked this little lady to marry me yesterday, and unfortunately, she's already said yes." He smiled at Frank then back at Marissa.

Frank let out a huge sigh, "Okay…I guess, I guess the better man won…you'll take care of her won't you?" he said with a defeated look on his face.

"Absolutely", he replied before frank gave one final nod and he walked away to find a seat.

Marissa turned back to Ryan and smiled, "Little lady huh", and he laughed. "Thanks" she said while tapping him lightly on the chest.

They took the tram right by Market Street and made their way towards Union Square for a spot of shopping as requested by Marissa. At a distance they looked like a happy couple. Marissa tried on multiple outfits at Saks as Ryan sat on the complimentary sofa by the change-rooms and gave his judgment as she came out numerous times with a new look. She playfully walked out each time as if strutting on a runway posing twice seductively by the end of the change-room hall and immediately, they would both break out into laughter.

Ryan watched her, stumped completely by how amazing she looked each time, while he rarely got to see this spontaneity out of Marissa, he could still clearly see it was still her and it wasn't an act. It was just the side of her you rarely got to see back home because it was always being clouded with the drama that would find its way back into their lives. It was like a flashback into their first Christmas as they'd gone shopping, only this time she didn't seemed to be so burdened.

"Are you ready for lunch?" Ryan asked as they left the register after having paid for her purchases.

"Yes, I'm getting hungry."

"Do you want to stay around here to eat?"

"She suddenly had an idea, "No, let's grab some lunch and have it in the park."

"Okay so where?" He asked.

"There's this place I've always wanted to visit!" She said eagerly.

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"This is where you've always wanted to visit in San Francisco?" He said a little surprised as they both stood on the grass in Alamo Square.

"Yes! When Sum and I would watch Full House, this is the place they'd have a picnic at, at the end of the opening credits."

Ryan and Marissa stood there looking out at the Postcard Row; the Six-Sister houses that sat in line radiating the architecture of the Victorian era while the City Skyline sat behind it.

She sat down with her food and patted a spot of grass beside her, "Come on sit, you should enjoy this, it's like Architectural and everything." She said without really knowing what she was going on about.

"Thanks Riss", he said sarcastically, but still enjoyed the picturesque scene nonetheless.

Marissa had been trying to tame the calamari with her fork; its elasticity was proving difficult as she tried to carve off a piece. She battled with her seafood from her container and suddenly lost control of her fork, having her seafood and salad scatter across onto Ryan's shirt. He looked down at his shirt and back up at her clearly not impressed, and she couldn't help but want to laugh. Keeping her lips pursed, a small giggle escaped her lips.

He looked back down to his shirt picking off the chunks of salad that latched on, "So…you think this is funny huh?" He said as a smirk was forming on his face and her giggle morphed into uncertainty.

"No! Ryan…Ryan…No!" she said as he nodded at her without saying a word. "No! Mine was an accident", she pleaded as he picked up the container with his left over fried rice, and she slowly began getting up.

"Okay, Okay, wait, just a second…" she said calmly and took a deep breath and he waited patiently unsure of what she was doing, next thing he knew she knocked the container out of his hand letting it all spill out onto the ground, and she got up and started running off laughing.

He got up chasing her as he regained his bearings, "Marissa!"

They ran around amongst the greenery barefoot like they were children. There were plenty of near misses as they ran in and out amongst other people, dodging them as they were having lunch. He caught up to her and grabbed her waist which caused them to both fall to the ground with her hovering over him.

It was at the moment like many before that the world around them became quiet. There was no sound, no chatter, no birds, no traffic; just complete stillness. She looked down at him trying to catch her breath, and she couldn't imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

Ryan looked up at her, with her body blocking out the sun from his vision, she looked as if she was almost glowing, like gold had outlined her body. She really was his Godsend. They could feel each breath they exhaled, and as she felt his body rise and fall from taking deeper breaths, he could almost feel her heartbeat quicken its pace.

It was there, they were both hesitant, but it was there and they both wanted it; even Ryan who had been denying her all this time, couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again as he stared up into her eyes.

"Hank! Hank come here!" A little girl cried out, which in turn distracted them from what they had both been longing to do.

A large Labrador was making their way over to the two who were still lying in the grass, with curiosity. Marissa started to get up, as did Ryan, hiding their disappointment. The Labrador made his way over to Marissa and she stroked its silk coat, as he unexpectedly licked the side of her face. Ryan just smiled again to himself, thinking that this dog had gotten further than he did, and couldn't help but laugh.

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"So where to now?" She asked as they both cleaned up the mess they had made from lunch. Both not having made mention of their close encounter, they carried on as best they could as if nothing had changed.

"I think there's still one place we should visit before we go…" He said softly and gave up his half smile to her.

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Both of them sat on a park bench on a hill by the tip of one side of the Golden Gate Bridge overlooking the city and its watered surrounds.

"It's beautiful…" She said as she looked out to the panoramic view she was fortunate enough to witness. "We're not in Kansas anymore, are we?" she said feeling a little overwhelmed

He rubbed the side of her arm to comfort her, hearing the uncertainty reside in her voice. "No we're not Dorothy…" he answered.

She smiled at his remark while keeping her focus to the beauty in front of her. Together they sat there, hours they spent until the sun had gone down and lay to rest in preparation for another day.

He watched her, again becoming enamored by her as she became enamored with the city.

Occasionally they got caught up in idle conversation, but for the most part they sat in a comfortable silence; filled with thoughts of the days events, the slopes of the city mirrored exactly the high's and low's of how they felt.

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"Oh that guy, yeah he was in classics for the most part, but you know as soon as we left, he'll be checking out of the video store with, The Great Escape, Citizen Kane, and Good Will Humping." He stated matter-of-factly as they both laughed all the way up though his apartment building. Their laughter echoed through the halls and walked through the door.

"Okay, which one first?" She asked as she looked at the titles of the DVD's in her hand.

"Seeing as how, all we've done is watch you and Summer's girly movies, I think it's time we watch something with a little more action, huh."

"Yeah okay, which one?"

"I say we start with The Bourne Identity." He answered.

As she placed the disk in the tray, Ryan went to the kitchen to go and make popcorn. Marissa took off her shoes and sat cross-legged on the couch. Moments later he returned with a bowl of popcorn, setting it down on the coffee table in front of them.

"Hey! I thought I heard people" Sarah said rather cheerfully as she came out from her room. She noticed the popcorn and some previews come up on the television, "You're watching a movie?"

"Yeah, uh, The Bourne Identity", Marissa answered trying to be civil.

"I love that movie!" She exclaimed as she invited herself to a position next to Ryan, who now sat in the middle, wedged like sandwich meat.

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He watched as the suspense on screen would catalyze unexpected physical and verbal reactions out of her body; laughing to himself as she would make commentary towards the actors as if they could take her advice. He would speak up and make fun of her, in which she would playfully elbow him on the arm, as a third could only do as much as sit there and look to the corner of her eye in quick glances.

"You should've just stayed where you were! Now you're dead, see, stupid!"

"You've already seen this, so you already know he's going to die. That'll never change you know." Ryan said as he joked with her.

"Aah, you shush." Sarah responded as she got up and threw the pillow she had onto his lap. She walked over to the refrigerator and reached for a case of beer. "Ryan? Marissa?" She called out to them on the couch as she held up bottles of Pilsner.

"Oh, no thank you", Marissa politely replied.

"Yeah, I'll have one", Ryan accepted.

Sarah came walking over with two bottles in hand and passed one onto him, and settled back into her spot. Characters on the television seemed to pass Marissa by as she sat in silence and would inconspicuously observe how the other two beside her would interact. She sat there as the film played on, grabbing for popcorn occasionally, just so she would have something to do with herself, hoping time would pass by quicker this way.

"Hey what are you doing? You're finishing my beer." Ryan pointed out lightheartedly.

"What are you talking about? This is mine." Sarah said, as she retracted the bottle away from her mouth.

"No, yours is the empty one on the left. You've been backwashing in mine for the past ten minutes."

"Excuse you, I do not backwash!" She exclaimed in mock hurt. "Besides, if it was bothering you so much, why'd you let me?"

He laughed. "Well I figured it is your case of beer to begin with. But now you're just pushing it." Ryan said, grabbing the bottle out of her hand and shaking it to indicate its near emptiness.

Even in the darkness you could see their flirtatious behavior, and it made Marissa more and more uneasy, wishing she could be anywhere else, or rather that Sarah could be anywhere else. This night seemed as if it hadn't even been born out of the same day. A day filled with comfort, fun, laughter, and familiarity, were being carried off into the distance and taken away from her.

The end credits began to roll, and as Ryan went to turn the lights on, Marissa uncrossed her legs to stretch them out, and rubbed her eyes for them to adjust coming from the blackened room.

"So what'd you think of it?" Ryan asked Marissa in regards to the movie; where it even felt like forever since he had actually said anything to her.

"Um, it was okay…but I didn't really get it though." She answered rather truthfully knowing that her mind had wandered throughout it on multiple occasions.

"What's not to get?" Sarah jumped in rather bluntly, a little bewildered that there was anything for her not to understand.

Marissa was slightly hesitant, feeling as if Sarah had put her on the spot. "Ah…well, uh…well how come they were out to get him, even though they knew he was part of their organization?"

"They were under the impression he went rogue and was double crossing them." She answered with a look on her face as if it had been the most obvious thing in the world.

Marissa just nodded slowly while setting her focus to everything else around her other than Sarah. Ryan walked up from behind, rubbing Marissa back gently as he proceeded to the kitchen carrying empty beer bottles. Marissa didn't know whether to be comforted by him or take offence. 'What is this?' she thought 'An…it's okay if you're slow, pat on the back', and how she wished she could just go back in time, caught up in the moment where Ryan held her on the soft grass.

"I know, Mandy Moore didn't make an appearance, but I thought Franka Potente was rather good in this." Sarah said snapping Marissa back into reality. Was she innocently saying this because it was in her nature to be forthright, or was she really trying to have a go at her?

"Where's your bathroom?" Marissa spoke up kindly in order to divert the subject.

Ryan had the rubbish bag in his hands on his way to throw it out downstairs, "Yeah, just down the hall to the left." He said as he closed the door behind him.

Marissa got up a little too eager leaving Sarah by herself on the couch. Upon entering the bathroom she locked the door and leant her head against it. Her eyes closed, wanting to just get away if only for a brief moment. Walking over to the sink she splashed water on her face and looked up into the vanity mirror, trying to let the heat from her embarrassment subside.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked earnestly as she walked back out into the living room.

"Actually, I'm pretty tired, I think I'll just call it a night, plus I have class tomorrow." She said yawning, as she put on her best attempts to look drained.

Ryan nodded, "Okay, I'll take you home then." He answered her, as he watched Marissa go over and grab her belongings.

"This was fun." Marissa said, putting on a smile for Sarah.

"Yeah, we should do it again sometime." Sarah answered feebly.

Sarah looked on as Ryan put his hand on the small of Marissa's back and led her out the door of their apartment.

The journey back to Marissa's was quiet, Ryan would generally ask if she was okay and if she had a good time, and Marissa would honestly express she had a good day, but fib about her having a great night. Marissa sat there feeling impotent; unable to change how she was feeling as she sat in the front seat. Ryan sat there oblivious to what had really been going on in her mind, as if it were only Marissa that was dwelling on their day's events and had it mean something. As if it were only her that remembered their near encounter and wished they could rewind the tape and pick up where they had left off.

"So, I'll see you soon." He said with a warm smile as they pulled up in front of her building.

"Yeah…" she smiled back at him, closing the door and stood there with a slight wave until he began to drive off.

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