Okay well, I'm finally done going over everything and I'm ready to move on with the story. So here it is, after about a year, chapter 5. I know it's kinda odd, having the fourth season going on and continuing with a fic thats set in the second season, so i hope that you kids can bear with me. Enjoy.

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Chapter 5 - Say Goodnight

Ryan had been rudely waken up by the noises that had been comming from the washroom of the pool house. He lie still, blinking a few times before straining his eyes to peer around the dark of the room. The alarm clock beside his bed had read 3:18am and he tensed, wondering what the hell was going on.

The events of the previous night had slowly started comming back to him and he remembered all about Summer's recent break up. The whole thing had confused him, he'd never seen her act this way when her and Seth were in the middle of a fight before but he wouldn't dare ask her why it was so different this time. She looked so broken when she was sitting in this exact spot earlier, he wouldn't want to risk making her more upset about things by asking stupid questions.

Ryan began to worry when he glanced at the bed that was now empty. He sat up and stretched, pushing himself off the couch and setting off down the hall. He could see the light slipping through the edges of the door frame of the washroom and he remained silent, pressing his ear to the door and listening intently in hopes that he'd be able to find out what was going on inside.

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Summer was sitting on the edge of the tub, trying to control her sobs even though they were only getting louder. She had retreated to the washroom about ten minutes earlier, not wanting to wake Ryan up. He had looked so peaceful, lying there on the couch. She'd never forgive herself if she had shaken him out of his sleeping state just so that he could deal with all of her bullshit.

Everything would be fine later, when the sun came up. She would pass through the stage of being upset and onto the one of being pissed off. But right now, a few tears was all she needed, even though it exceeded that barrier by quite a bit. Lately, she had been convincing herself that her and Zack were a match made in heaven. He was just so perfect and sweet and anti-Cohen and... ugh, that had all been shot to hell.

"Summer?" A rough voice called from the other side of the door, shaking her train of thought.

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Ryan paused, leaning against the door as he waited for a response. When one didn't come, he tried again, hoping for a better result this time.

"Summer? Are you okay?" He closed his eyes a listened hard, his ear pressing against the door as he brought his hand up to reach for the doorknob.

"Ryan? Why aren't you asleep?" He stopped, resting is hand on the knob instead of going inside. Her voice was quiet and shaky, it was obvious that she had been crying and it scared Ryan.

He tensed up and wrapped his fist tightly around the door handle. He just stood there and waited, not turning the knob, not pushing open the door. Just waiting.

"You woke me up," He paused, pondering over his next words, shifting slightly. "Is everything alright?" Ryan asked, stuttering over the words.

Summer was now on her feet, standing in front of the door, one hand pressed against it to help keep her up, the other wiping away at the last few tears that came out of her eyes. She was trying hard not to sound like she was hurting but it was extreamly difficult to hide. She bit her lip and swallowed hard, trying to keep her words from cracking.

"Yeah, everythings fine. You should go back to bed, I'll be out in a minute." She replied, attempting to get rid of him. She really didn't want to weigh him down with all of her problems.

Ryan sighed, slowly losening his grip on the door knob, letting his hand slip away from it and back down by his side. "Alright," He paused, trying one last time to hear her breathing on the other side of the door. "Don't take too long."

He stepped back from the door, but never managed to turn around and walk back to the couch. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and waiting for her to come out.

Summer nodded to herself at his words, as if he could see it. She turned and looked back at her puffy, red eyes in the mirror. Turning on the tap, she splashed some water on her face and cleaned up the smudged make-up that she hadn't had the time to wash off the night before.

Taking one last look at herself, she sighed. She wouldn't let Ryan see her, he was probably back on the couch with his head face down in the pillow, sound asleep by now. And if he wasn't, if he was lying there waiting for her it would probably be too dark to make out her facial features anyways, right? She figured that he wouldn't try to make conversation, Ryan wasn't really one for words.

Shaking away her thoughts, Summer pulled open the door and gasped, surprised to see Ryan in front of her.

"Shit." She cursed in almost a whisper. Unsure of what to do, she stood there awkwardly, staring back at him.

"Summer..." He stepped towards her, cutting off most of the space between them and bringing his hand up to brush a few strands of hair away from her face so that he could see her better.

He stared at her hard and she was forced to pull her eyes down to stare at the ground, uncomfortable under his gaze. She folded her arms securely across her chest and felt Ryan's thumb brush lightly at her eye, making sure that she wasn't still crying. She knew all about his habit of saving people but she didn't want to play the damsel in distress role. Summer Roberts wasn't going to come across as vulnerable and she would makes sure of that.

"Chino, I'm fine." She said boldly, thanking god that her voice didn't break. She placed a hand on his chest and lightly pushed him back, forcing him to bring his arm back down by his side.

Summer was now looking at him again. Ryan raised his eyebrow and it was obvious that he didn't believe her.

Picking up on the look, she rolled her eyes. "Really, everything is okay. Stop worrying about me and come back to bed." Shutting off the washroom light, she started towards the main room, brushing his shoulder as she went.

Ryan followed her path back into the room, trying hard to make out her figure as his eyes ajusted to the darkness. She slowly sank down and crawled into the bed as he lay back down on the couch.

Summer layed on her back and stared at the ceiling. Ryan was on his side, facing her. He tried to close his eyes and drift back off into sleep again but failed. Ryan was curious. He was never one to push it, but he had to know what was going on with her.

She could feel him staring and turned her head to the side to look at him. He just layed still, watching her. She glanced back at him for a few seconds before getting annoyed.

"What?" Summer asked, confused.

He struggled for a minute, trying to figure out what to say. "You know, you don't have to pretend like theres nothing wrong around me..."

"What are you talking about?" She responded as she propped herself up on her elbows.

"You're obviously upset about what happened but you're acting like everythings perfect and you really don't have to. If it's easier to cry, then cry. I won't tell anyone." Ryan said, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Summer raised an eyebrow at him and thought about his words. She hestitated before speaking again. "Look, I know what you're trying to do, but I don't want your help. I'm a big girl, Chino, I can handle it myself."

"But five minutes ago you were-"

"I know, I know. I just... had a moment." Summer said, interupting him.

Ryan let out a long, slow breath. "Okay." He replied in a quiet tone, nodding his head.

"Okay." She responded, offering a small smile. "Goodnight, Ryan." She said, laying back down and pulling up the covers.

He stared for a few seconds longer before slowly bringing his head back to the pillow.

"Goodnight, Summer."