A/N: All your reviews rock….i love receiving them.. hehe it fills my inbox….ok this is the aftermath of the fight and after I will be giving a 8 month wrap up so I can get into the daredevil storyline. Sorry if I confuse people but I hope you like it :D and continue to give feedback.

The poolhouse doors opened as three bruised and battered teenager's trudged through the doors. Ryan dropped his cane and laid on the bed, Marissa collapsed on a chair and Seth lay on the floor.

"Ouch…" Seth sat up as he rubbed his forehead, his headache worsening.

"That's one way to describe it" Marissa muttered as she tipped sand out of her shoe.

'You guys aren't too bad are you?" Ryan asked as he painfully took off his tie and jacket. They had all tried their best to not get killed.

"Uh…Ryan" Marissa muttered to him as the waterpolo team closed in.

"Riss… remember the park?" Ryan sensed the team closing in.

"Yeah" Marissa whispered back standing close to Ryan.

"Reckon you can do it again?" Ryan asked.

"I hope so…" Marissa stepped closer to Ryan letting him know she was there to help. No matter what.

"I don't know what to say but you two totally had my back out there" Seth smiled through his pain. "I never knew you could pull some moves Marissa…It was like outta Fight Club or something…I dunno."

Ryan smiled and undid the buttons to his shirt and Marissa giggled.

"We did our best Cohen…" Marissa patted his back.

Ryan was the first to be pushed but reacted sraightaway punching the guy in the nose until he flew to the ground.

"Haha…freak has a girl to fight for him." Saunders sneered at Marissa.

Ryan just smiled knowing this cocky guy would be swallowing his words. Marissa, proving Ryan right, punched Saunders in the nose and kicked him in his stomach. A he rolled on the ground in pain she asked, "Who's the girl now?"

"That was awesome how you beat Saunders ass" Seth laughed at the thought.

Marissa smiled and turned her attention to Ryan. She was pleasantly surprised when she saw he had taken off his shirt and was just in his wifebeater, showing his toned abs. She swallowed nervously and blushed at how much he could affect her.

Ryan laughed, "Yeah it was pretty awesome..." but then sensed the mood change, and Marissa's eyes on him.

Seth could feel the tension in the room and looked between Ryan and Marissa; something was definitely going on there.

"Uh…I better get going…" Marissa stood up awkwardly, eventually drawing her eyes away from Ryan.

"Oh…ok" Ryan replied disappointed and began to stand up, feeling for his cane.

"Oh…don't get up…I'll see you around" Marissa smiled and then walked back home, still blushing.

Ryan sighed and took off his sunglasses. Seth knew he had to say something.

"Dude, I'm choking"

"From what?" Ryan asked confused by what he meant.

"The sexual tension." Seth spoke up, thinking it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Ryan played it down, wondering if it really was that obvious.

"I think you do bud…ok I'm going to bed…just talk to her man, she likes you." And with that Seth trudged to bed, trying not to wake his parents.

Ryan thought over Seth's words as he went outside for a smoke. Marissa Cooper, the princess of Newport, with Ryan Atwood, the blind trailer trash from Chino? Would that ever work? Ryan felt a connection with her, but could be any more?

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EIGHT MONTHS LATER…

Ryan Atwood is finally feeling like he belongs with the Cohen's. He looks up to Sandy as a father and Kirsten as a mother and Seth…well he's Seth. He started at Harbor at the end of the summer where they had brail resources for him to continue his studies. He is actually one of the top students in his grade. He tries to get into as little fights as possible, but they somehow find him.

Ryan and Marissa are now the best of friends and are inseparable. They both want something more but are afraid to make the first move. Seth and Summer are now together and both are rooting for Ryan and Marissa to become a couple.

Sandy is still a PD and is still tangled with Caleb Nichol. Jimmy Cooper is Caleb's financial backer, and has found out one of Caleb's men killed an innocent man.

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Sandy was expecting this impromptu meeting as soon as he learned of the court hearing date. Caleb knew he was telling the truth on the stand so why did he need to know again?

"Sandy can I ask you to reconsider?" Caleb persuaded Sandy with a glass of scotch.

"Although I'm a lover of blended scotch the answer is still no." Sandy looked him in the eye, letting him know he was serious.

"Fine…Sandford but this isn't over…" Caleb threatened as he sipped from his glass.

"What does that mean?" Sandy didn't like being threatened.

"How's your family? I hear you have a new son…blind is he?"

"You stay away from my kids…you hear? I'll see you in court." Sandy stared him down coldly and left the office walking right past Jimmy Cooper.

Caleb chuckled at Sandy's feeble threat and called a number from his phone.

"Yeah…Thomas…I need you to do a job tonight…Yeah that's him…Get rid of him."

As he hung up the phone he opened his door to find an anxious James Cooper.

"James…come on in" Jimmy entered and dumped a pile of papers on Caleb's desk.

"What's this?" Caleb asked looking over the papers.

"I heard what happened to that man…I'm tired of looking over my shoulder. I want out. I've made a generous contribution." Jimmy rubbed his sweaty palms down his pants.

Caleb laughed and didn't answer. Jimmy was even more intimidated.

"What do you say Caleb?"

"How's your daughter?"

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Ryan waited by the diner, like he was asked to. Marissa wanted to hang out today and Ryan decided it was the day he was telling Marissa how he felt about her. He had been anxious about today but he was excited about tonight.

After getting top marks for his English essay Sandy offered to take Seth and Ryan to the local baseball game. Ryan, being a huge fan of baseball, was enthusiastic however Seth was just going for the hotdogs. Ryan loved the whole atmosphere of baseball games even if he could only watch the game by listening to commentary.

Ryan was snapped out of his thoughts as he smelt her vanilla scent and heard her sweet voice.

'Hey Ry…" Marissa hugged him friendly as he smiled back.

"Hey…" He then remembered what he wanted to say to her and started fiddling with his cane. Marissa knew when he fiddled he was nervous so she grabbed one of his hands and they walked to the rail of the pier.

"What's up Ry?" She asked as he calmed at her touch.

"Well…you know since the moment I got here us…we…we've been close…" Ryan stammered God Atwood get a grip.

"Yeah…" Marissa replied puzzled.

"Well…I've been trying to convince myself since I first met you that we are friends…" Ryan continued. "but I can't keep denying it anymore."

"Denying what?" Marissa hoped it was what she thought.

'That I'm in love with you…" Ryan replied barely at a whisper.

Marissa heard loud and clear though and she smiled widely. Her whole world had changed since Ryan bumped into her table and she wouldn't do anything differently. Except telling Ryan how she really felt, and now she could.

"Ry…I feel exactly the same."

Suddenly Ryan's head was softly turned towards hers as she leaned in and kissed him deeply. They had never experienced a kiss like it and it made their whole world stop.

They both knew from there on things were looking up….if only they knew not to get too comfortable with things.