A/N: Okay, so to explain- everything is pretty much the same as through seasons 1-4 except that in The College Try, Kirsten never told Ryan she saw Theresa at the airport and so Ryan never knew about Theresa's son and she never tells him he's not his. She also never goes with Ryan to prom, obviously. It just works with my story.

Enjoy!

Chapter Two- Just When You Thought It Was Safe

Everything became quiet. The only thing Taylor heard was Ryan breath in sharply.

"Theresa."

As Taylor sat on the end of their bed she let out a weary sigh. She was tired and certain that she was still more than a little tipsy; she never could hold her wine.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Her head was aching, probably the result of too much wine, and too many surprises. They didn't exactly make for the best combination.

Toeing off her shoes, she took out her earrings and cupped them in her hands. They were a present from Ryan for their five-year anniversary. Moving over to the vanity she placed them back in the box she had taken them out of earlier that evening.

The mirror displayed her reflection, one that was now far from perfect. Her eye make-up was smudged and her styled hair had fallen loose.

Her perfect party hadn't gone to plan.

Although the other guests seemed like they had continued to enjoy the rest of the evening, she simply couldn't, not with the looks passing between the Cohens, which she was certain meant more than, 'Hey, look, we've got a gate-crasher'.

Taylor felt like she was missing a piece of a puzzle, and no one was exactly forth coming. She was fobbed off with an 'I'm sure it's nothing' from Summer and 'it's probably best if you ask Ryan' from Kirsten.

So, without any other choice, she had waited for Ryan to come and explain. Only, she had a feeling that the explanation wasn't going to be one she wanted to hear.

The arrival of her mother certainly hadn't helped.

Yes, Veronica Townsend had had somewhat of an epiphany after the earthquake that hit six years ago, but it didn't last. She had reverted back to acting the only way she knew how and knew best.

And her brief period with pleasantries hadn't taken the edge of her sharp words.

"Taylor. I came to your birthday party and you're sat here in the corner. Why did I even bother?" Veronica almost hissed.

"Mother." Taylor reached over and refilled her glass of wine; she was going to need it. "How are you?"

"What, have you only just realised that people just like parties and not the person there're meant for?" Veronica looked down at her daughter, sat at the empty table save for the bottle of wine and single glass. "I would go easy with the wine as well, lord knows you could do without the calories in it."

"I was actually just waiting for Ryan." Taylor hadn't looked at her mother yet; her eyes were focused on Ryan as he talked to Theresa. They seemed deep in discussion on the other side of the room.

Veronica Townsend followed Taylor's gaze.

"You lost your boyfriend to another girl on your birthday." She smirked, "I knew it wouldn't last long, you never did have what it took to keep a man. You couldn't even do it with marriage."

"She's an old friend of his, and I left Henri-Michel, mom. I wanted the divorce, I didn't love him."

"And that guy there," she flicked her head in Ryan's direction and scoffed, "he loves you?"

"Yes. Ryan does love me." It still irked Taylor that her mother wouldn't use Ryan's name and overlooked the fact that they had been together for over five years.

"Then why is he over there and you're here alone?"

Taylor's heart constricted a little and the lump she had been forcing down was rising in her throat again. Her insecurities always grew 10 fold around Veronica Townsend.

"Mother, why don't you go and get a drink or there's food if you want."

"I'm not staying."

With that Veronica Townsend strutted out the way she came in.

Taylor finished the rest of her wine, being in her mother's presence was draining. She could feel a headache beginning to form behind her eyes, and she rubbed her fingers over her forehead to relieve some of the tension. Veronica's words were ringing in her ears.

She would not cry. She would NOT cry.

Ryan did love her, and everything was going to be fine. Then why did she have that niggling feeling that Theresa's presence was going to cause her bubble to burst?

A hand squeezed her shoulder gently and she looked up to see Seth standing over her. He smiled and pulled out the chair next to hers.

"And just when you thought it was safe to come back to Newport, you get the drama. I saw your mom leave, you ok?"

"As ok as I'll ever be. To be honest I didn't think she'd turn up. But it looks like my luck ran out earlier this evening."

Seth glanced over to Ryan, "I told Ryan he should have stuck with Berkeley, but would he listen? No, Kid Chino wanted to go all sentimental and come back here. That's what he gets for upping the ante."

"Upping the ante?"

"Yep, because of this surprise party he threw for you, I know Summer is going to want something special when the baby's born, and that means more work for me."

"Seth, you stay home everyday drawing comics."

"Yes, but you forgot to factor in that I also run a large business."

"It runs itself, or at least the people that work for you run it. You basically do as little as possible." She pointed out.

"And that was my master plan, which is now ruined by having to think of ways to top this. Having his ex-girlfriend turn up is Ryan's karmic come-uppance."

'Ex-girlfriend'.

And there it was, the pin that popped her bubble. Taylor took a few deep, calming breaths. It was ok, it didn't have to mean anything. They were just over there catching up. There was no need to panic about the fact that their conversation seemed a little intense.

"Seth," Taylor hadn't realised he had still been talking and cut him off mid sentence, "Can you excuse me?" She stood up and made her way over to Ryan and Theresa.

Seth remained sitting for a while; as usual it took him a few seconds to connect the dots of what he had just said. When he looked up he caught the eyes of one very angry pregnant woman and decided to excuse himself to somewhere that was away, far away from any hormonally charged punches that may have been thrown at him.

As Taylor approached the pair their conversation came to an abrupt end.

"Taylor, uh, meet Theresa," Ryan introduced, "she's an old friend, from Chino."

"You mean ex-girlfriend." Taylor smiled and held out her hand.

Theresa glanced at Ryan before she took Taylor's hand and smiled in return, "That was a long, long time ago."

"So, from Chino huh? What brings you to Newport?"

"Well I was just here for dinner with-"

"Mom, I found him. Look, he only got as far as the bushes."

Holding up what appeared to be a frog, a young boy with sandy brown hair came to a stop in front of them.

Theresa smiled uncomfortably and looked at Ryan. She put her arm around the boy and turned him towards Taylor and Ryan. Taylor found herself looking into eyes of a familiar shade of blue.

"This is my son. Ryan, meet Taylor and Ryan."

"Hey, you've got the same name as me. Cool."

"Yeah." Ryan's usual closed features were betrayed this time by the astonishment he was obviously feeling.

And Taylor knew that it was now time to be worried.

Slipping under the covers of their bed Taylor curled up into the foetal position. She heard Ryan come into the room. The other side of the bed dipped where he sat down.

She started to feel a bit guilty, she hadn't spoken to him the entire journey home; she had pretended to be sleeping. But she had needed time to process everything.

Ryan had gotten as far as explaining that when he and Theresa were together she had gotten pregnant before Taylor had stopped him and told him she wanted to go home.

She was drunk, and it was her birthday and she wanted to hear this when she was sober and on a day that was not her birthday. Yes, that may have been selfish of her, but having never been in a situation remotely similar to this, she hadn't known how else to act.

Ryan had undressed and sat back down on his side of the bed. When she heard him let out a long sigh she turned over to see him sitting with hunched shoulders and his head hanging so his chin was close to his chest.

She ran her hand down his back,

"Hey."

"Are you still mad? Cos if you'll just let me-"

"I wasn't ever mad at you, Ryan. I just had too much to drink. Can we just get some sleep, and talk about everything in the morning?"

Ryan shifted closer to Taylor under the covers and wrapped her up in his arms.

"I love you," he whispered as he kissed the top of her head.

"I know."

She remained still in his arms; eyes wide open looking at the moon in the sky outside their window, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

TBC

So not entirely happy with this chapter, I was having trouble with my inspiration, but had to get it out of the way.