A/N Sorry for waiting a week to post again, I had no motivation. Thank you for my reviews. R/R, enjoy!

Ch. 6: Don't Hit People

Things continued to go smoothly for the month with Ryan and Marissa. They hung out and had fun together. Marissa's friends continued to make annoying comments about how great Ryan looked and how lucky she was, but she was able to deal with it. Her parents seemed to have liked him, her dad especially, and even though her mom just shrugged it off, she knew that deep down she liked Ryan enough too. Even Sarah seemed to be decent, though Marissa was unsure why. Sarah started dating her own guy, some water polo jock that Marissa didn't know the name of. So everything was doing just fine for a whole month.

Ryan was staring up at the ceiling when he heard a couple of knocks at the door and then someone entering. He didn't bother to look up, already knowing it was Seth because of the hour. "Hey, buddy, do you want to play some playstation or something?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, I'm good."

Seth took a seat in the chair by the bed and stared at his friend. "Why Ryan, are you brooding?"

Ryan shook his head and glanced over at Seth. "Actually, no, I'm just staring at the ceiling because I don't feel like doing homework. Calculus isn't all it's made out to be."

Seth nodded and said, "I have to agree with you there."

Ryan went back to staring at the ceiling. "And I was just thinking, too."

"About..." Seth prompted.

Ryan sighed a little. "Marissa."

Seth frowned. He still couldn't stand Marissa and made it clear on multiple occasions. "What about her? Is there trouble in paradise? Are you finally seeing the light?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Marissa and I are fine."

"Well, then, I don't see the problem."

"Exactly, that's what the problem is," Ryan said with a nod.

Seth furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Your problem is that I don't see a problem?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, the problem is that there isn't a problem in the first place, which usually indicates that something bad is going to happen."

Seth stared at his friend for a long time. "Okay, sure."

"It's true!" Ryan protested. "Every time I'm happy, something comes in to screw it up."

"Maybe because you go looking for trouble," Seth suggested.

"Now why would I go looking for trouble?" Ryan asked, a bit annoyed with his adoptive brother.

"I don't know, why would you be sitting in the pool house pondering why your life is going so well?" Seth retorted, beginning to stand up. "It's getting late, you should probably call Marissa so you guys can talk cutesy or whatever."

"Why are you being like this?"

"Like what?" Seth asked with a sigh.

"I don't know, rude, I guess." Ryan paused. "Whenever Marissa's name comes up you get upset. I don't know why, considering she's been nothing but nice to you and I really like her."

"Just wait," Seth said with a final roll of his eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if there's something up her sleeve."

"This is my girlfriend we're talking about," Ryan cautioned Seth.

Seth nodded. "Yeah, and that's exactly why I'm worried." He looked at his friend again and then said, "I don't know what happened to you when you were back in Chino; I have no idea what you've been through. However, I do know that when you got here you were angry as hell. You locked yourself up in here for days on end and you didn't come out for anything but to pick up some food before you came back out here and started the cycle all over again. My dad never told my mom what happened, and he never told me either. But I do know that lately you've been happier, and I don't want Marissa Cooper to come in the way of that."

Ryan stared right back at Seth. "Has it ever crossed your mind that the reason I'm happier is because of her?"

Seth sighed and said, "That's what I'm afraid of." Then without another word, he walked away.

Ryan glared after him for a minute and then decided to call Marissa. Seth was right: it was getting late. He dialed her number and then waited for her to pick up. "Hey," she said after a couple of rings, a smile in her voice. "I was wondering when you'd call."

He allowed himself a small smile when he heard her voice. "Sorry I didn't call sooner, I was talking to Seth."

"Something tells me that didn't go too well," she said softly after a few quiet moments. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," he replied honestly, running a hand through his hair. "But thanks for offering."

"No problem," she said, the smile back in her voice. "So there's actually something I want to ask you."

"Hmm?"

"So my friend Holly is having a party this weekend in her beach house." She paused. "Would you be my date?"

"A party?" He really didn't think this was a good idea.

"Please, please, please? We never hang out with my friends, and this way everyone can get to know you..." She pleaded.

He sighed. "I'm not really a partier..."

"Please?" she begged again. Then she tried a different approach. "I'll make it worth your while..."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Well, I have a few ideas. Of course, you won't be able to find out unless you go...." They were silent for a minute and then she added, "It'll mean a lot to me..."

He thought about it for a minute and shrugged. Why not? "I guess I could go and be your date..."

"Really?" She sounded so happy; he knew he did the right thing.

He smiled and softly said, "Of course."

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Marissa held on tightly to Ryan's hand as they made their way through Holly's beach house that Saturday night. She didn't know why, but she was kind of nervous to have him here surrounded by all of these people she called her 'friends'. It wasn't that she was embarrassed by him at all, she was worried that maybe he would find her shallow and stupid when he spent quality time with them. They found her friends and she turned to look at him quickly, trying to calm her nerves. There was something about him that made her feel like everything could be okay, and after looking into his eyes for a minute she smiled.

He noticed this and smiled back. "What?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. Come on, let's get this over with."

"You were the one that wanted to come," He reminded her as she finished leading him to her friends.

"Hey, guys," Marissa said, smiling at the group, or at least most of it: she smirked at Sarah.

"Hey, Riss," Allison said with a smile.

They were all hanging out around the living area so Marissa made Ryan sit down on one of the soft, cushioned chairs and then sat down on his lap. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, still remaining silent, probably nervous from all the attention he was receiving from her ogling friends. She started chatting with her friends about something. After a while she disentangled herself from Ryan's arms and said, "I'm going to go get a drink...do you want one?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, whatever you're drinking."

She smiled. "I'll be right back."

Ryan sat there looking at her friends; The girl he remembered as Sarah was making out with some blond guy, a few of her other friends were into some promiscuous dancing with guys of their own, and Summer was staring at him curiously. He offered her a polite smile, feeling slightly uncomfortable to be under such scrutiny. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Is there a problem?"

She shook her head. "No, not really." After a moment she added, "You seem like a nice guy."

He shrugged and cracked a smile. "Well, I try."

She shook her head again. "No, you just seem like one of those naturally nice guys, not one of the fake, 'player' types."

His lips fell back down into a neutral position and he said, "If you say so." He was silent for a minute and then said, "You're Marissa's best friend, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"About what?"

Her eyes glanced behind him and he turned to see what she was looking at. Marissa was laughing with some girl and pouring drinks. She glanced up and when she saw Ryan looking, smiled at him. He felt a smile tug at his own lips and then looked back at Summer who had been watching the exchange between the two. "You guys do that a lot," she commented.

"Do what?"

She shrugged. "Look at each other from across the room."

It was his turn to shrug. "I guess we just always seem to find each other."

Summer studied him for a minute. "Do you love my best friend?"

He was taken off guard by this question. "What?"

"Do you love Marissa?" she asked, her voice a notch softer than before. "Are you in love with her?"

He thought about it and then shook his head. "No..."

She stared at him, trying to assess him, and then a grin broke across her face. "Not yet," she finished for him.

He didn't answer her. "It's only been a little over a month that I've known her."

"But you really like her."

"Well, yeah," he said. Wasn't it obvious?

Summer's smile disappeared. "Don't hurt her."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't think of it."

She sighed. "I know."

"You make it seem like it's a bad thing," he commented.

She looked at him with a troubled expression. "It's not, it's just..." She trailed off, looking down at her hands. "You know, never mind."

"Okay...."

Marissa decided to show up at that moment. She handed Ryan his drink and went back to sitting on his lap. "What'd I miss?"

Summer offered her friend a smile and said, "Nothing much, me and Ryan were just having a small little chat."

Marissa raised her eyebrows and looked at Ryan with a smile. "Is that so?"

He nodded and smiled back at her, unable to help himself. He found that he smiled a lot more than usual around her. "Yeah."

"What were you talking about?" Marissa asked, leaning back against Ryan comfortably.

He kissed her cheek and said, "Just stuff."

Marissa sighed contently, feeling there was nothing better than being in Ryan's arms. Summer interrupted them by saying, "Coop, I need to go to the restroom. Care to join me?"

She shrugged. "Sure." She placed her cup down on the coffee table and stood up. She turned to Ryan. "I'll be back in a minute."

He nodded and smiled at her. "I'll be here." He watched her walk away and then leaned back in the chair, taking a drink of what she'd brought him: coke and vodka. He let his eyes wander around the room, taking in the party. Everyone seemed to be having fun. His eyes caught movement in the far corner of the room and he saw that girl Sarah with the guy she was just making out with. He was about to look away when he saw the guy shove her, angrily saying something to her. Ryan immediately got up and headed over to them. The guy had his hand raised like he was about to strike her when Ryan got close. "Is there a problem here?" He asked, giving Sarah a look that told her to get away from the guy.

She took the clue and quickly moved so that she was closer to Ryan. The guy looked pretty pissed off and drunk. "Mind your own business." He stood a few inches taller than Ryan, so he took a step towards him, probably trying to intimidate Ryan.

"I will, when you get away from her," Ryan said, giving the guy his intense stare that used to do wonders back in Chino.

"We were just having a little disagreement, that's all."

"Really? Because that's not what it looked like." Ryan looked the guy in the eye and said, "If I were you, I'd walk away now."

The guy looked at Sarah and then rolled his eyes. "Whatever, she's just a bitch, she's not worth it." He started walking away and then stopped and twirled around. "And a bad lay. If I were you, I wouldn't get associated with her."

"Just get out of here, man," Ryan said, trying to remain calm. From everything he'd seen, Sarah was a nice girl. There was no need to be insulting her. When the guy was gone, he turned to Sarah and saw that she was crying. "Hey, don't let him get to you," he said softly, feeling kind of uncomfortable.

She shrugged and said, "I deserve it, I guess."

"No one deserves to be pushed around, believe me." Ryan's eyes darkened and he tried to block his past out of his head.

She looked at him for a long moment. "Everyone calls me a bitch. I suppose I am, but it still hurts, you know?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"It's not fair," she added.

"No, it isn't," he agreed.

"Marissa's lucky," she said after a few minutes. "Not only does she get a big house and cool parents, but she gets to have someone as caring as you."

Now he knew things were getting a little dangerous. "Well, thanks."

She stared at him for a second. "It's a shame."

"What is?"

"You being with Marissa, it's a shame." Sarah gave him a small smile. "You're a nice guy, I don't want to see you hurt."

"What makes you so sure I'm going to get hurt?" He asked, starting to get annoyed by these people that seemed to think him being with Marissa was such a bad idea.

She looked past him to where Marissa was staring at the two of them. She patted his arm and said, "Just a feeling I have. You should go, you don't want her to get jealous or anything."

He didn't say anything further. He turned and walked back to Marissa, who was giving him a puzzled look. "What were you talking to her about?" Call him crazy, but did she seem worried?

"That guy she was with was about to hit her," he softly said.

"Oh."

He nodded. "I know it's still kind of early, but can we get out of here? I don't feel well."

She nodded and said, "Yeah, let's go."

They went to the car and he started driving. After a few minutes he said, "I don't want to go home just yet."

"Okay," she said softly, resting her hand on his free one. "So where are we going?"

"I was thinking the beach," he said. "We could've gone out when we were there, but I wanted to be away from everybody."

"What's wrong?" She sounded so concerned. It made him wonder how someone could possibly believe she was going to hurt him.

They arrived at the beach so he got out of the car and then helped her out. She led him to a lifeguard station and they sat down together. He still hadn't answered her and the silence between them seemed to be shouting at him to say something, so he said, "When I was little, maybe three, I wanted a toy car. It was one of those cheap matchbox cars that you could buy for under a dollar, but my dad said we couldn't afford it." He paused and looked out at the water, transfixed at the way the moon reflected off of the dark ocean water. "So I threw a fit. I screamed and I cried and I kicked and fought with anyone that got near me because even though I was only three, I saw that my parents had a drinking problem, and that's why I couldn't get my car. It was their fault. If only they would stop drinking, I could have that stupid little car."

"So what happened?" Marissa quietly asked when he got silent.

"My dad came home drunk one day and when I refused to speak to him, he hit me." He looked down at his hands his voice came out lighter than air as he continued. "He just reached out, grabbed me by my shirt, lifted me so I was eye level and he hit me. Then he put me down, and just like that, walked away." Ryan looked over at Marissa and saw that she had tears in her eyes. "Hey, don't cry," he murmured, wiping some of her tears away. "I'm fine."

"He shouldn't have done that," she said softly. "You don't deserve to be treated that way."

"But I was being a brat," he reminded her. "I was throwing a fit over a ninety nine cent toy."

She shook her head. "That doesn't give him the right to hit you. You were only three. Even if you weren't only three, he shouldn't have done that. No one deserves to be hit."

He stared at her for a long time and then said, "Be nice to Sarah."

She seemed baffled. "What does that have to do..."

"She was in that house about to be hit by someone, and no one noticed, no one cared." He looked back out at the water. "And afterwards, she thought she might deserve it. You said so yourself: it's wrong to hit somebody. But you know what? It's just as wrong to put someone down like people do to her."

"So are you accusing me of being mean to her?" Marissa asked, starting to get angry.

"No, but someone is, and you're not stopping it," he said simply.

"You don't even know her," Marissa reminded him.

He shook his head. "No, but I know how she feels, and even though she doesn't know it, she knows how I feel. That alone makes me feel closer to her."

Marissa suddenly felt very afraid. What if he liked Sarah better than her? What if he felt close to her because of this and he started to fall in love with Sarah? "So you have a connection with her....where does that leave us?"

He looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

Her voice came out very tiny. "If you feel close to her, then fine, I won't stand in the way of you two."

Understanding dawned on his face. He shook his head and softly said, "I don't mean it like that." When he looked at her, she seemed very fragile, not the usual strong Marissa he knew. He put an arm around her and allowed her to fit herself against him. "Yeah, I feel connected to Sarah, but I want to be with you." He lifted her chin so that she was looking at him. He looked into her eyes for a second and then leaned in and pressed his lips against her sweetly. "You're my girlfriend, and I want to keep it that way.; you're stuck with me."

Her stomach felt all warm and fuzzy when he said that, when he kissed her that way. How could she ever doubt him? She pulled away from the kiss and looked into those deep blue eyes of his, feeling herself getting lost. "There are worse things that can happen," she whispered.

He smiled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear in a loving way. How could one look alone make her insides melt? "Good," he murmured, and then kissed her again, both of them forgetting about Sarah for the time being.

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Individual replies:

Marissa Davis: Of course she's falling for him, but is he falling for her?

Ryanandmarissa4ever: I'm glad you love it, thank you.

Sabatoge0: I used to write very little in a chapter, but then I decided to write more in a chapter and post less often.

Juzzy88: I like pleasant Julie.

Hopelesslyhalfhearted: I'm glad!

Snowwygirl4: Have you read any books by Jodi Picoult? I finished My Sister's Keeper for the third time over the weekend cause I want to be ready for the movie next week.

oc_bunney: well here ya go.

Elly: Okay, if you insist.

G: I agree, badass Ryan is awesome.

Kellybby: Thank you.

Bwunnies: Enjoy!