Ryan let himself into the Robert's mansion.

"Summer?" he called.

"Hey, Atwood, I'm in here," he followed her voice to the kitchen. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and flour on her nose. There were broken eggs, spilled milk and flour everywhere.

"What's going on?"

Summer rolled her eyes and resumed stirring, "I'm making pancakes, what do you think?"

"We could have just gone to the diner you know…"

"Yes, but where's the fun in that!"

Actually getting to eat, he thought to himself as his stomach grumbled.

"Where's Marissa?"

"She's still sleeping, she didn't get a lot last night. I was up with her, coffee?"

"Yes," he said gratefully. Summer didn't seem mad, but there was definitely some tension between them.

"So, where's Cohen?"

"He, uh, I think he's coming later? He was busy when I left…" Shit, lying had never been his strong suit…

"Busy with what, Atwood?" Asked Summer testily.

"Um, I think he had some last minute RISD stuff to finish up." He said quickly.

"He told me he did that yesterday," Summer was walking closer to him, brandishing the dripping whisk like some sort of weapon. Ryan was trying to remain cool and collected; he was now physically leaning back, putting space between himself and Summer, who appeared to be on the brink of a level four rage blackout.

"Well-"

"Hey guys, what's up?" Ryan had never been happy to see Kaitlin in his life.

Ryan, taking advantage of the distraction, hopped off the stool and across the kitchen.

Once a safe distance away, Ryan replied, "Oh, not much, we were just wondering what Seth was doing, which you wouldn't know anything about," adding just a hint of sarcasm. Summer looked suspiciously between the two.

"I wouldn't be talking, Dad," said Kaitlin, glaring.

This caught Ryan off guard, it took a second for him to realize what she meant.

He turned to Summer, "She knows too?"

"Don't look at me," Summer said, going back to her pancakes. Kaitlin walked out, slamming the door behind her.

He sighed, and seeing that the pancakes wouldn't be ready anytime soon, he reminded himself why he came in the first place and set off to find Marissa. It was only nine, Marissa had never been much of an early riser, but he would wake her up if he had to…

He knocked softly on her door, "Marissa?" There was no reply so he walked inside.

She looked surprisingly small in the huge bed all by herself; Ryan had the sudden urge to curl up next to her, but he couldn't-they had to talk…

"Marissa," he said softly, brushing hair out of her face, he felt her stiffen for a second, but then resumed breathing calmly. He knew she was awake and had to smile at her…

"Marissa," he whispered again and brushed her lips gently with his, she stirred, unable to fake any longer. She bit her lip and looked up at him, he couldn't be mad about her keeping this from him, he couldn't think about his future, all he could think about was Marissa Cooper.

He closed his eyes for a second, refocusing.

"Ryan, I-"

"How long have you known?" His tone was a little colder than he'd meant.

"A couple weeks," she answered timidly, "I wanted to tell you in person." She turned, her eyes welling up. This had an immediate effect on Ryan.

"Hey," he whispered, gently tilting her head towards him, "Maybe this wasn't in the plan, but I know I love you and…I want to do this." He wondered if he'd regret saying this later… but when he moved his hand over her stomach and felt the truth of these words. He held his breath.

He looked into her eyes, waiting for her to tell him that they couldn't, they weren't ready. But she didn't, she broke into tears and started to sob hysterically on his shoulder.

Once she'd regained her composure, she whispered into his chest, "Ryan, you don't have to do this, I don't want you to mess up your life for me…again," her voice cracked.

"You," he said meeting her eyes, "are the best thing that ever happened to me," he kissed her forehead.

She bit her lip, "Hey, it's going to be okay, this is going to work out." He assured, trying to convince himself.

I know… It's just," she looked up at him "I'm scared," she squeaked.

"We're in this together," he said, stronger than he felt.

He wiped her tears and kissed her mouth, she laid back and he came with her, careful not to put any weight on her stomach. They could work out the details later…

"Ryan," she said weakly.

"Hmm," he replied, kissing her neck.

"We need to stop-Ryan, seriously," he didn't respond, "MOVE," she said urgently. He rolled off her, shocked. She hopped up just in time to make it to the bathroom, followed by retching sounds. He rushed in after her, holding back her hair. Something was wrong, he yelled for Summer. He was scared.

She stood up.

"Are you okay, what's wrong, did you eat something? I'm gonna call a doctor." He said, panicked.

"Ryan," she said, smiling at his concern, "Calm down, it's just morning sickness, it's totally normal."

"Oh," he said, mentally kicking himself, he'd been through this before with Theresa, it hadn't even occurred to him. "Sorry," he smiled, embarrassed.

Summer rushed in, "What's going on?"

"False alarm," Ryan mumbled to his feet.

"Okay," she said, looking between the two, "I'm gonna leave you guys," she said backing out of the room.

"Do you feel okay?"

"Just a little queasy," she said, still smiling. "It's sweet that you were so concerned, though," he moved forward to kiss her again, but she dodged him.

"I'm, um, gonna brush my teeth first," she blushed.

"Good idea,"

…………………………………………………………………………..

God, Ryan really was perfect, she thought to herself as she watched him polish off a fourth pancake. He was so cute…

He looked up, "What?"

"Nothing," she said, smiling.

Summer looked half-bored, half disgusted with their flirting.

"I'm gonna call Cohen again," she said, excusing herself.

"You should probably eat something," he said. He was so concerned…

"I can't eat anything this early, it'll just come back up," she said, sipping some water.

"Right…So, we should probably figure some stuff out…" She knew this was coming, she might as well get it over with, without crying, she reminded herself.

"No, yeah, totally," She said, as normally as possible. God, she sounded stupid.

"Well, I know I can't go to Berkley for now,"

"No, Ryan, you can-"

"I know I can, I want to be here, with you, and honestly, I was having second thoughts about going to college…right now…"

He paused and waited for her to speak, but she didn't trust herself.

"So I was thinking maybe I could do an internship at Newport group here and then maybe do the whole Berkley thing in a year or two…" He said quickly.

"And, um, we have to tell Sandy and Kirsten, when your ready, I mean." She smiled at him, he was so worried about scaring her or hurting her feelings.

"Yeah, and then my mom," she sighed.

"I wonder how she'll react," Ryan said sarcastically.

"You should have seen my dad,"

"You told your dad?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I mean, does he know," he swallowed, "does he know that it's mine?"

"Mmhmm," said Marissa, enjoying Ryan's nervousness.

"What did he say?"

"Well, I don't think he's too happy with you, but he'll come around," she assured, "it's hard to hate you," she whispered softly. She kissed him on the cheek and he grinned. She started to clean up Summer's pancake mess and he cornered her at the sink. He placed one hand protectively on the side of her stomach and kissed her. He tasted like syrup.

She giggled, "Summer's gonna be back in a second,"

"Mmm," Ryan answered, "Ryan, stop, c'mon let's go find Seth before Summer does, I can't believe you didn't tell me he's smoking pot," she exclaimed, pushing him off her.

"You would have told Summer and I told him I wouldn't tell anyone, plus, Kaitlin's your sister, you should probably talk to her,"

"Yeah, and you should talk to Seth, before Summer finds out and kills him."

"I think Summer went upstairs,"

"Alright…"

They walked upstairs, Marissa was almost sure she went to the front porch.

"I think she's in here," Ryan said, gesturing to Marissa's door.

"You do?" she asked doubtfully.

"Mmmhmm" he said, pushing her through the door, his lips meeting hers. She couldn't help but giggle. She'd missed him and it felt so good, to be loved. He pushed her lips open with his tongue and they kissed contently, he was especially gentle with her and lowered his weight onto her slowly. He felt warm and solid, safe. He made his way down her neck and moved his hands under her baby doll tunic, her preferred cut these days. Her boobs were already slightly swollen. She was breathing hard now, she didn't feel good though, she felt guilty, but Ryan's kisses were becoming lower and increasing distracting. She wanted to tell Sandy and Kirsten before they did this, and they hadn't really talked about anything, Ryan was never much of a talker. She wondered how he was really feeling, what if he was regretting it? It didn't feel like he was regretting it, she thought as he bit her lower lip softly. His shirt was already off, she noticed, running her hands along his muscular back.

"Coop?" Marissa looked up just in time to see Seth and Summer in the doorway. She pushed Ryan off her.

"Oh, god, um, sorry…c'mon Cohen," Summer said quickly, slamming the door behind her. After an awkward pause, Ryan resumed kissing her, but she resisted. "Ryan…we have to…talk …about stuff," she said breathlessly between kisses.

"What stuff?" He said, sitting up. She gave him a look.

"I mean, I know what stuff," he sighed, "So, are you staying with your mom?"

"Yeah, I guess, we've been getting along pretty well, and what other choice do I have?"

"Well," said Ryan seriously, "you could live with me…and the Cohens…"

"No, that'd be a little weird, I don't think I'm Sandy and Kirsten's biggest fan, especially after they find out-"

"Hey, the Cohens love you-"

"Ryan, I don't want to take things to fast, living together is a big step and I don't want having this baby to affect our relationship, I mean, obviously it will affect our relationship, but I want to take things slow." She said quickly.

"Alright," said Ryan, she could tell she'd hurt his feelings and leaned over to kiss him again. "Besides, I think it'll be good, living with my mom, she could help me with everything, she's had some experience,"

"Yeah…did you make a doctor's appointment, do you even have a doctor?"

"I still have to-"

"Well, I'll come with you," He blurted.

"Okay," she said smiling, "Thanks."

"So," he kissed her again, "have we covered everything?"

"I was thinking we'd have dinner with Sandy and Kirsten tonight…"

"Sounds perfect," Ryan mumbled, already tugging at her shirt.

"Ryan, I feel all gross," she protested, "I haven't showered."

"Me and Summer are going to the beach later, why don't you and Seth meet us at the diner for lunch?"

"Alright, call me," He said, kissing her again. She knew he was watching her and she closed the bathroom door smiling. She knew it sounded lame, but Ryan made her feel…special.

After her shower, she made her way downstairs to look for Summer. She was reading the newspaper.

"Sum, what are you doing?"

She looked up, "I'm going to Brown, I'm smart now. Besides, this stuff is interesting." She said defensively. "So, are you ready to tan?"

"I better, I should probably do all I can before I can't wear a bathing suit…"

"Aw, Coop, don't say that, let's go!"

"Hold on," Marissa called, grabbing towels from the closet and shoving them in her Chanel bag. She also packed two water bottles, sunscreen, her iPod, sunglasses, a pregnancy book and the stack of magazines on Summer's coffee table-she'd been living in Greece and had no idea what was going on with anything.

"So, I have to tell you what's going on in the Valley-"

"Did April run away with Grady's father?"

"Nope, she went off with Jake instead,"

"Huh," Marissa said thoughtfully

"We forgot beach chairs."

"They're in the trunk, god I can't believe you've been in Greece for two months!" Summer hopped out of the car, "No, you're pregnant- I can carry them," Summer exclaimed, swatting Marissa away from the beach chairs. They made their way to their favorite spot and set up. Assuming position and taking off her shorts, she closed her eyes and listened to the waves.

"I've missed this," She said, soaking in the sunshine and for the first time in two months, she felt happy.

"So how'd it go with Ryan?"

"Great…I think, I don't know, this might actually work out.."

"What'd I tell you, Coop, Ryan is like…perfect. I cannot imagine how Cohen would react, he'd probably have a panic attack…" she said, frowning.

"No he wouldn't, Seth's a good guy…" She said with sincerity, hoping her friend would remember this when she found out what he was doing, because, knowing Seth, she would find out. "He loves you,"

"Yeah, I'm kinda bummed about leaving for Brown in a month, leaving him and Ryan, and now you too,"

"You should be lucky you get to go to college," Marissa said, smiling sadly.

They were silent, Marissa flipped through a Riviera while Summer cracked open her baby book.

"You know your gonna gain, like at least forty pounds?"

"Don't remind me," Marissa sighed and looked down at her stomach. "It's worth it though," she smiled.