(very imp A/N: my comp went berserk the day i updated teh document and it was only today that irealised it was the wrong one! for all those who read and reviewd, thank you. but hope, you'l like this one too.)

(A/N: For this particular fic, I wanted Seth to be a lawyer. I hope that's okay with everyone.)

Christmases in Newport could rarely be called traditional or… genuine, for that matter.

After all, When you had no idea who was next of kin to your husband, or if you had already slept with your brother-in-law, or you had a boob job to get to; it being a Christmas gift from your fifth husband whose one feet was in the grave or charity functions to attend wearing newly bought, designer-labeled red and green bikinis, who needed cozy fires and watching the snow through the windows drinking hot chocolate and singing carols with the entire family, right?

Wrong.

To Marissa Atwood, Christmas meant long nights wrapped up in her husbands arms as they watched the twinkling sky. It meant slow sensuous love and fast, rapid breaths as she stared into his gorgeous blue eyes. It meant watching the priceless smile on her daughter's face as she waited for Santa to come bearing all her gifts. It meant sitting in front of a cozy fire singing Christmas carols and drinking eggnogs, it meant Jason's excited thanks as he saw his first car. It meant Seth's sarcastic quips, summer's 'oh baby's' and warm hugs, it meant Sandy's unquestioning support and Kirsten's love, it meant the new found closeness with her mom, that they had both formed after her dad's death. It meant so many things that she had never had as a child.

In short, it meant a family filled with laughter, happiness, and love.

And to think she had once thought 'she didn't need Christmas!'

Pssfft…

Who was she… the Grinch?

Balancing the huge, somewhat old, dusty cardboard box on top of her hips, she sauntered into their kitchen and came to an abrupt halt. She felt a slow smile start across her face and a warmth spread through her heart as she saw the scene unfolding in front of her.

With Grace on top of his shoulder and their son held in a playful, vice like grip, her husband 'the tough guy' was wearing a red pointed Christmas hat and his Berkeley sweatshirt arguing the merits and demerits of the perfect spot for their huge, crispy fresh Christmas tree.

"Hmmm… the tree looks perfect." She proclaimed, silencing their animated argument as she walked into their living room.

Instantly three pair of blue eyes swiveled around to stare at her.

"See that's what I was telling dad." Jason agreed, with a nod of his head. "But he keeps asking me to push it more to the right."

"No mommy," Grace instantly whined, "I think it should be more to the left.

"I think it should be more to the right." Ryan pronounced finally, running his hand across his jaw, characteristic of his contemplative mode "That's its sweet spot."

She raised her eyebrows at his words. Did he just say 'sweet spot'?

"Nope." she grinned at him and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, "the tree stays where it is."

Absently rubbing the spot where she had kissed as if he was in a daze he considered his options. Well, he could argue with her… and lose, or he could give in and act like the better man. Yup, definitely the latter. Pulling her into his arms, he gave a nonchalant shrug. "Okay…"

Jason rolled his eyes at his dad and he was just about to make a fitting retort when his eyes fell on the old, dusty cardboard box that his mom had placed under the tree. "Mother, might those be the Chrismukkah presents?" he asked piqued, eyeing the box with raised eyebrows.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Marissa grinned slyly, and sat down next to Ryan on the rug. "Although I am surprised that you didn't recognize it. You spent hours looking through the contents of this box when you were a kid."

Jason took a closer look, then gasped in recognition, "Oh, it's 'the box'! I had totally forgotten…"

"Thankfully, so had I…" Ryan sighed exaggeratedly, "At least until your mom decided to torture me into getting up on that ladder and practically search the whole attic again."

"Shut up!" Marissa retorted, jabbing him lightly in his chest. "You like it."

Ryan clutched his chest playfully and teased. "Do I really have a choice?"

"No." she laughed.

Grace eyes circled from her dad, to her mom, to Jason, to the box that everyone was talking about. Apparently everyone knew what it contained, and that made her that much more curious about it. She imagined all the wonderful things that it might hold and she couldn't contain her anticipation any longer. "What is THAT?" she asked, staring at the mysteriously appealing box with excitement.

"Glad you asked." Marissa grinned, turning to look at her daughter's inquisitive face. She pulled the box towards them and patted the ground besides her indicating for her daughter to sit down. "Now THAT" She declared with a wink, "is the famous Atwood tradition."

Grace eyes widened in excitement and surprise, "We have a tradition? What is it? Why didn't I know before?" she said rapidly, her words all coming too fast for her small mouth.

"Whoa whoa, slow down", Ryan and Marissa exchanged a laughing glance. They had spent the last Christmas at Seth and Summer's and the year before at Sandy and Kirsten, incidentally the only two Christmases that Grace could consciously remember since she had been too small before, so she had no idea about this box. It wasn't even really a tradition. Marissa just liked to call it that.

Marissa opened the box, and Grace did not even wait a second before her head popped inside to unravel its contents.

"They are… uggh" her face fell in disappointment as she saw what was inside. She had expected to see something beautiful, something even pretty, but all she saw were a lot of old photo albums, some movie tickets and… "….Christmas decorations? They aren't even very pretty."

"They aren't just Christmas decorations, squirt." Jason admonished her, in his all-knowing, big brother superior kind of way. "Everything in there has a special meaning to both dad and mom." He looked towards Ryan and Marissa for confirmation and was rewarded with a smile.

"That's true." Marissa said, removing a huge, white faded handmade dove and handing it to Jace, "See this dove over here," she started but couldn't immediately continue, as she looked at Ryan, a deluge of memories assaulting them both and she fell silent…

"Ryan!" a nine month pregnant Marissa had exclaimed, the moment the front door of their small apartment in Berkeley opened.

Ryan was rib breaking, back aching exhausted after finishing the two jobs that he had taking during the holiday season so that he could support both Marissa and their unborn child. "What baby?" he answered tiredly, wanting nothing more than to lie down and go off to sleep.

"Come here, quick."

Apparently, that was not an option right now. He walked into their living room- come- bedroom to see Marissa sprawled across the rug under a small but tastefully decorated Christmas tree.

"You are showing me the tree that we both went and got yesterday?" he sarcastically asked, as he sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms.

Marissa rolled her eyes. "Not the tree, babe, look at that." she pointed to something, which to Ryan was totally inconspicuous. The only thing he could make out was that it was definitely ugly.

"Uhhh…what is that?" he asked her, baffled.

"It's a Christmas decoration." She proclaimed enthusiastically. "I made it while I was waiting for you to come home."

"That's ummm…" he tried to find an appropriate alternative to 'ugly' "umm … nice?"

"Shut up." Marissa retorted, "its better than nice. And you better agree to it or else you are sleeping on the couch tonight."

"When you put it like that…" he teased as he kissed the tip of her nose mischievously, "it's beautiful…"

Marissa began laughing… but her laugh was strangled half way as an intense pain suddenly rocked her body. "Oh my god, Ryan!" she screamed, her hands gripping his shirt tightly.

"What it is? Marissa, what is it?" Ryan asked desperately, worriedly. "Tell me what's wrong." he saw even before he heard her explanations. "Shit! Your water just broke!"

The next two hours were a blur for both of them. He didn't remember much of it, all he remembered was that there was a lot of screaming, and he suspected he was the one doing it more than Marissa as pain after pain racked her frail body. And after what seemed like forever, it was over and a tiny blonde hair, blue eyed boy was in there arms and as Ryan sat down beside her on that small bed, while she held there baby and nursed it, the baby's tiny hands holding her breasts tightly, he knew what heaven was.

"he is…" the words got choked somewhere at the back of his throat, his lips suddenly dry with an emotion that he couldn't quite define, his eyes glazed as he looked at both of them, "wow."

Marissa laughed through her tears. "This is the most beautiful day of my life. I never want to forget this moment, ever."

"I so know what you mean." Ryan smiled.

"You know what we should do?" she exclaimed suddenly, "Remember that ugly dove that I made…"

"That was a dove?" Ryan joked, "It looked more like a pig."

"Shut up!" Marissa continued undeterred, "We should go and buy a better one, and hang it on our tree to remember this day by. And for every other important day in our life, we should buy a new one. So that when we are old and gray, and we look at all the decorations that have accumulated over the years, we can remember those moments…"

Only Marissa could come up with something so cheesy and heart wrenching at the same time. "Actually I think, we should keep the dove that you made." He smiled, "it holds a certain fondness for me after today."

They both smiled and kissed Jason at the same time and just like that, another memory was made.

Thinking about that day was… nostalgic, for a lack of appropriate word. So many memories… they had truly come a long way. She felt tears glisten at the back of her eyes and Ryan who was now sprawled sideways beside her, rubbed her back gently. "See, it has Jason's name written on It." she pointed it to Grace, "We had it the day Jason was born." She explained and her eyes clashed with her son's. he looked so grown up now, and to think that day he was so tiny… She couldn't help it as she pulled Jason towards her and gave him a quick kiss.

Jason recoiled from it rapidly giving her a horror struck glance, "God, mom, please! Never ever do that again!" he scoffed. However even as he retorted, his hands automatically found their way to the dove and stroked it softly, before placing it at the highest part of the tree.

"But, what about me?" feeling left out and out of the loop, Grace complained.

Ryan smiled as he picked her up in his arms. "You… are our very own Golden angel." handing her the beautiful angel he watched her scrutinize it from all directions.

"It's pretty."

Marissa tipped her nose with her forefinger, "just like you."

"Okay mommy, now I want to put this above Jason's"

Jason quickly counteracted her plea. "You can't reach so far, squirt."

Hands on her hip, she stared up at her brother, "pick me up." She ordered.

"Nope, no can do."

She turned towards her daddy, "daddy, ask him to pick me up."

"And why would I want to do that?" Ryan teased, "Coz, I know of a girl who didn't even think they were very pretty."

"But that girl is no more." indicating to herself she gave him a wide smile. "This girl lur…ves it."

Ryan picked her up and blew raspberry's on her stomach until she laughed. "Oh this girl lur…ves it, does she?"

"Daddy… daddy… stop. It tickles."

Seejay stood frozen in the open doorway, unable to either fully move away or completely come inside. He knew he should get the hell out of here, he knew standing here watching them interact was intrusive and an invasion of their privacy, but he just couldn't make his feet obey the commands of his mind. There was something so heartwarming about the scene unfolding in front of him, that simply by standing here he felt an ache in his heart. He should have listened to the voice inside his head that had told him that he didn't need to return Jason's pen drive any time soon. But the front door had been open and… He shook his head to clear it, and was just about to get the hell away, when he heard Jason's surprised voice call out.

"Seejay?"

He turned around slowly, expecting to be the recipient of angry glances from all four of them. After all, he had invaded their privacy without warning and he was sure any chance he had of being friends with Jason anymore was blown away to smithereens. Instead, he saw three pair of amused blue eyes looking at him. Wondering what they could find so funny about the situation, he looked down at himself and realized that his body was held frozen in an awkward position, half his limbs ready to bolt while the other half firmly rooted to the spot. Immediately he fumbled with his apologies.

"Uh… the front door… open… Jason… pen drive… I just… I thought he might need it… uh…" the words were all jumbled up and he felt an embarrassed flush creep across his cheek, "Right. I am just going to go."

Unable to meet their eyes, he walked towards their doorway and was just about to bolt when he heard Jason's amused drawl. "Mate, for a person who is here on a scholarship, you aren't that good at vocab, are you?"

"Common in Seejay" Ryan welcomed him over warmly with a wave of his hands. "We all could do with a little help decorating."

"Yeah, Ryan's really not much of a decorator," Marissa piped in, "you should have seen his room before we got married". She made a horror face, "ghastly!"

"Hey!" Ryan protested, wrapping his arms around her "I thought you liked the pool house."

"Well, I did…" she ran her fingers up his arm playfully and fiddled with his shirt buttons, "just…" her words were slightly undercut as she whispered, "not for your decorating skills."

Jason rolled his eyes at his parents obviously mushy behavior and stared at Seejay, "see, what I have to put up with?" He heaved an exaggerated sigh. "You have to stay to provide me with some non-embarrassing company."

Seejay stuffed his hands in his pocket and grinned awkwardly. "Uh… I am just going to leav…" he never got to finish his sentence as a small pair of hands tugged at his shirt.

"Seejay," Grace's big, blue eyes widened and her lower lip curled in a pout, "will you help me put my angel on the tree." She pleaded.

"Uh…" he looked around like the walls were going to provide him with some answers… "I… ummm…"

"Great!" she exclaimed, jumping up on him, "ours has to be the highest." Then realizing that she was hanging off him like a kite, she admonished him and said, "You know, you have to hold me too, or I'll fall."

"Grace Atwood, you better apologize to our guest right now." Marissa chastised her daughter immediately. Moving to pick her up, she shot an apologetic smile in Seejay's direction. "sorry, she is just…"

"Nah, it's cool." Seejay gave her a sheepish grin, "it's just… I haven't held anyone before."

"Oh."

Unwilling to give up on her new friend who was going to help her put her decoration higher than that of her brother, she immediately held even more tightly to him. "Mommy, I want to stay on Seejay."

"Grace…"

"It's okay Mrs. Atwood. Really" Seejay felt Grace tighten her grip around him and he gently held her. "She is not giving me any trouble."

"See mom, I am not any 'bubble'"

All the adults laughed at her and it rather broke the awkwardness. Seejay surprisingly felt comfortable enough to carry her up to the tree and she with her golden angel scrambled up him like a monkey so she could reach the top. Finally displacing Jason's dove, she stuck her tongue out at her brother. "Ha ha, mine is higher than youuurs..."

Jason gave Seejay a miserable sigh. "Dude, its sad how whipped my sister has you. You sided with her over your own friend. The same friend I might add that saved you the very first day."

Seejay shot him a smile. Although it was more of a crooked curl of his lips, it felt like the first genuine smile to him. "Yeah well, I saved your ass up on the football field. So looks like we are equal."

For the next half an hour, they all busied themselves with the decorations. And even though, he didn't directly take part in the conversation, not yet comfortable enough to be a part of it, he couldn't believe how effortlessly he melded along with them, or how much fun he was having. For the first time in his life, like in forever, he felt as if there was no pressure upon him to be something or someone. He didn't have to watch what he spoke or worry about anyone… and for the first time he felt… free.

Of course, he had learnt a long time ago that all good things hardly ever lasted long.

"So Seejay…" Ryan asked casually, while putting up the Christmas lights, "what about your dad? He doesn't believe in Christmas?"

Seejay chewed on his bottom lip as he shuffled nervously from one feet to the next. "He is away." he stuttered, coming up with the first thing he could "Uhh… a business trip".

"Well, then what about your mom?" Marissa asked curiously.

Sadness crept into his eyes as he looked down. He hadn't really thought about her since… ten seconds back when he had thought what it would be like had his mom been there. Would she have looked at him the same way Jason's mom looked at Jason, would they have had a Christmas tree and decorations and the whole deal, or even would they have had a chance of being like a normal family… yeah right! Get a grip, Seejay. Like that's going to happen…

"She left." He whispered softly.

"Oh."

Marissa didn't know what else to reply. The poor guy… she knew exactly what he would be feeling right now. She had her parents leave her time and time again… she knew how painful it felt, how horrible it was, how scary and sad it could be. All her motherly instincts came to the forefront as she felt empathy, concern and sadness for this boy. No wonder the guy looked ready to bolt. Something about the fact that he was going to be spending the Christmas alone tugged at her heartstrings. She exchanged a silent glance with Ryan.

"You know what. Screw it. You should come to our place tonight" she offered. "It'll be fun."

Jason immediately joined in, "you'll get to meet our Uncle Seth. He is like way cool… and even though he is this hotshot lawyer in New York, he loves his comics more than he loves his clients."

"Yeah, Aunt Summer always buys me the cutest of Barbie dolls." Wanting to convince him to stay, Grace said the only thing that her small mind could think of. Biting her bottom lips she shrugged, "I'll allow you to play with them if you want..."

Seejay felt a small smile curve his lips at that sweet offer and he closed his eyes for a second as the pain of it washed his heart. It sounded all great, it was all great… but it wasn't him. How could he have forgotten all the reasons why this couldn't be, wouldn't be true for him. He could never be what they wanted him to be… and he could never allow himself to hope…

"I've… I've got to go." He muttered under his breath and hastily got up to leave.

Instantly a deluge of 'No... Stay…", "it'll be fun…". "Common mate…" hit his ears and he felt a sadness creep his heart. Jason's dad was the only one among them who did not try to stop him. Instead, he simply said…

"Let me drive you."

…….

"Coop!"

The shout could be heard clear across the whole orange county as the two best friends hugged each other like they wouldn't ever let go.

"Sum!" Marissa said warmly, grinning so widely that she felt as if her jaw would split. "I can't believe you are finally here. I missed you so much…"

"I know, baby, I know. Me too. We would have gotten here sooner if Cohen here hadn't made us stop at every comic book store from New York to Newport just so he could get the latest copy of legions?"

"Oh, is someone forgetting the stops at all those stores so you could shop?" her brother in law snapped as he walked in carrying what looked like at least 10 bags in his hands. Of course, he fell down twice or thrice, but he finally got there with a fitting retort on his lips.

Marissa laughed. Some things never changed. Just like Lois for was Lane, Monica was for Chandler, Seth was for Summer. They were a match made in snarling heaven.

"Seth…" she hugged his tightly to her. She had missed him so much.

"oh… ummm… hey…" suddenly caught under the onslaught of Marissa's hugs, an awkward grin formed on his face as he returned her hug with uncertain hands. "That's ummm… a really minty greeting, Coop."

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call her Coop?" Summer snapped, although the memory of the number of times they had said this when they were kids made all three of them laugh.

It was crazy how the years between them just melted away and they were once again Chino, Coop, Summ and Cohen, age 17, Newport Beach. Marissa waved them over inside and closed the door as the three best friends made their way into the kitchen laughing and giggling as they shared everything that had happened in the past six months that they had been apart.

"So what happened?" Marissa asked curiously as they sat down on the kitchen chairs over hot steaming mugs of coffee, "Ryan told me last night that you guys might not make it. Seth had some high profile case to work on or something."

Surprise of surprises, and it was as much a surprise to himself as it was to anyone else, Seth had found himself curiously attracted to law. After all his misgivings about the profession and all his jokes on his dad's behalf, he found himself pursuing law as his career and was now a hotshot lawyer in New York.

"Because asshat here," Summer replied, throwing a disgusted look at Seth, "accidentally wrote down the wrong date in his calendar. The case isn't for another month."

"So you guys are going to stay?" Marissa asked hopefully.

"We thought we might stay till New Year." Seth replied casually, "you know put in a little quality Seth-Ryan time."

"Speaking of which… where is Chino? Still working?" Summer asked.

"No. he is…" Marissa's voice trailed off as she remembered the look in Ryan's eyes just before he had left. "He is gone to do what he does best." she finished cryptically.

Summer looked quizzically at her.

"If I know him correctly, and I think I do…" Marissa said, "He is gone to help."

………

Sitting here in Mr. Atwood's car, parked right in front of his apartment, Seejay was acutely aware of every little hole in the wall of his house or chipped off paint that had started to peel or the garbage that remained in one of the bins because nobody seemed to want to pick it up. Compared to the opulence of the mansion that he had just witnessed, this was a hellhole and he couldn't look Jason's dad in the eye for fear of the ridicule that he was sure that he would see.

"Uhh… this is it.," he whispered in an almost inaudible voice, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. "Umm, its not much but… we just moved in and well, there wasn't any availability and umm…". His voice trailed off, and he flushed as he looked away.

"Look, don't worry about". Ryan knew exactly what Seejay was feeling; knew only too well how the opulence of Newport could be overbearing to any new comer. He gave him a sideways glance and shot him a smile. "I come from Chino. I know what its like."

"You… you do?" Seejay's eyes rounded in shock and wonder. At the stadium when he had seen Jason's dad, he had seemed like any other Newport father who had come to watch his son's game. Today at their home, he looked like the man who had everything handed over to him as if the God's had conspired amongst themselves to give him this perfect life. "Really? I mean… you just have it so together… a great job, an amazing wife, a perfect life…" he realized he had said the last words with a certain bitterness and he blushed, fumbling with his apology. "I mean… I didn't mean… I…"

Ryan merely grinned, "It does seem like that doesn't it?" then his eyes grew serious and he turned to look at him gravely. "Look, I know what its like to feel like an outsider. And…" Ryan paused before continuing, eyeing the faintly visible bruise on Seejay's neck. "I know only too well about falling down stairs." His voice softened and he ran his hands through his hair trying to find the right words to convey to this kid that he was on his side. "My point here is…" Ryan asserted, "If there's anything you want to tell me, or if there is any help that you need… I am there."

Seejay didn't reply, just looked down as he bit on his lip softly and nodded; the words couldn't or wouldn't form on his lips. Truth was he didn't quite know how to reach out, or even if he wanted to. Whatever this man said the bottom line was that he was beyond helping. "I've got to go now…" he muttered as he opened the door of the car.

"Listen…" Ryan stopped him before he got too far, "here's my card. If you need anything…"

"I know whom to call." The sentence flew out of his mouth, surprising him. He knew he would never call, but up until now he hadn't thought it was even possible for him to utter these words. A small smile of gratitude formed on his face as he palmed the card. With an imperceptible salute, he walked up the stairs to his house, then abruptly turned back.

"Mr. Atwood…" he put his hands deep in his pocket and gave him a sheepish smile, "Uhh… thanks, for… today."

Ryan smiled. "It's not a problem. And it's not Mr. Atwood to you. It's Ryan."

…….

The crystal clear blue water of the hot tub lapped around them as their bodies melded and entangled, seamlessly blending with each other's until they became one. The kids were asleep, Seth and summer were in the guest bedroom, having gone to bed immediately because they were still a little exhausted from their early morning drive and Ryan and Marissa took advantage of the solitude and the quiet as they sat in the hot tub, relatively secluded from the main house because of the bushes carefully arranged around it.

At any other time, this could have been the ideal scene for seduction, ideal scene for making love and they would never have let this opportunity pass up. However, tonight all they wanted was just the presence and the comfort of the each other's arms. Their wineglasses lay untouched on the platform beside them as time lay still.

Marissa rested her head against his chest, her body entirely cocooned by his as she sat on his lap, the moonlight glistening and glinting at every droplet of water that clung to her skin, covered in nothing but a teal green bikini. Her hands tightened a little bit around him and the artificial waves lapping against the pool tiles were the only sound that could be heard, as each got lost in their own thoughts.

"Do you think he is going to be all right?" Marissa's voice was a soft whisper against his chest pulling him out of his thoughts. Her blue eyes were serious as she looked at him in concern.

His looked beyond, towards the dark cloudless sky.

"I don't know…" he sighed. The kid had it bad. He could see it in his every inflection, every mood, every jerk of his head and every recoil of his hands. He just didn't know what it was and he was sure Seejay wasn't going to tell him. He could plainly see that the kid had trust issues and if anyone could understand what that was like, it was him. "I mean I gave him my card… and our home number… " his voice trailed off, they both knew it wasn't enough.

"What kind of a mother just abandons her kid and runs away like that?" the question was rhetorical; they both knew what it was like to be abandoned by their family. But the pain that slashed through his heart wasn't. It was very much real.

Watching him recoil as if he was burnt, she was acutely aware of how much of a hold his past still had on him…. He might have forgiven Dawn, he now even had a healthy relationship with her, but she doubted he would ever be able to forget the scars that being left alone in the world without anyone would had left on him. she felt a pain in her heart as she remembered the young boy who had sat beside her in the model home and told her about his mom. "I am sorry… I shouldn't have brought that up…" she whispered.

He sighed as he softly kissed her forehead and held her tightly as he reminded himself that he wasn't alone anymore. Every time he saw someone being abused, some kid struggling with a broken family it brought it all back. It tightened like a noose around his neck. His past…, all the memories and all the pain… he felt the desperate need to help, to reach out, to make sure that no one else ever had to suffer like that. "You know what's funny…" he said softly and their eyes connected, sharing all the things that were left unsaid, "it makes it that much more real. I know exactly what he is going through right now, and there is nothing I can do to help."

Marissa's hands rubbed his shoulders gently, soothingly as she looked up at him. "You already did, Ry…" she said at long length, "Just by reaching out to him, you already did."

He lay his head gently against hers and slowly nodded in response. "I wish I could do more…"

For a moment, they stayed like that, then Marissa broke and lightened the intense moment. "It's been a long time since I have seen you in your Ryan Atwood 'the rescuer' mode. I didn't realize how much I was starting to miss him." she teased.

Recognizing her ploy Ryan allowed to her to cajole him back from his dark thoughts. She knew him like the back of her hand, knew exactly what he was feeling, knew exactly how much to push and when to leave. It was one of the things that he admired about her and one of the many things that made him fall in love with her all over again. "Yeah well, what can I say…" he tried to joke, "My favorite damsel in distress hasn't been in distress in a long time."

"Uh huh?"

Their lips met and mingled. It was a sweet kind of a kiss, a healing kind of a kiss.

"Uh huh."

But it didn't stay like that. As it always happened, one touch between them escalated to two and then many as the passion grew between them. All of a sudden, Ryan broke it off and Marissa looked up at him in surprise.

"You know in all this I almost forgot…" he gasped, his voice held the slightest amount of tremor from barely controlled passion. Slowly he pulled out a small, neatly wrapped box and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she eyed the box, perplexed.

"It's your Christmas present." He stated blandly then grinned when he watched her squeal in delight.

"Ryan!" she pushed him away and excitedly grabbing the box out of his hands and rapidly opened the cover looking inside. Her mouth dropped open in shock and she almost dropped the box.

"You didn't!" she exclaimed, looking up at him with wide blue eyes.

Ryan's grin widened. "I did!" he confirmed, mimicking the same tone that she had used, teasing her. "I just figured that we could celebrate our 20th New Year, the same way as we spent our first. The pent house of the four seasons is ours for the entire night." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her closer, and wriggled his eyebrows playfully as he stared down at her. "So… what do you think?"

Her sparkling blue eyes were the same color as that of the water around them. "I think…" she whispered against his lips in that husky voice that always drew him wild, "that we should start our celebrations a little earlier."

He couldn't hold himself in much longer. He cupped her face and angled it towards his, then pulled her legs up until they wrapped around his waist, taking her lips forcefully, passionately in his as he pushed her against the tiles. "I can already hear the fireworks."

Her answering laugh got swallowed whole by his lips, as pure sensation took over her. And with his lips melding with hers the way they were, and her mind exploding with bright lights, she swore she heard it too.

--------- ... ... ... ...

He couldn't believe that it was really her.

He hadnt really wanted to believe, not when her name was asociated with his...

He had been standing near the window when he had seen the car pull up. Even without the sun glaring on its hood, the very fact that it was a range rover in his locality would have attracted attention, but what had surprised him was the fact that it was his son who had gotten out of it. The man sitting in the front seat had been faintly familiar to him, but he had shrugged it off.

Until his son had mentioned the name…

Ryan Atwood.

The name rolled off his tongue like a particularly distasteful bad word leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

Ryan Atwood…

The name revolved in his mind bringing with it a surge of hatred to course through his body, a surge that had not diminished over the years. Every jealous, vindictive, revengeful, hateful feeling that he had, came to the forefront the moment he had heard those words.

He had never forgotten him…

He was the sole reason for his downfall, he was the one who was responsible for his condition right now.

He was the one who had finally taken her away...

His hands clenched on the bushes drawing blood. How dare she allow him to touch her like that? How dare she allow him to kiss her like that? How dare she allow him to brand her like that?

He couldn't watch anymore, as jealousy swirled through his mind possessing him, claiming him like the drugs he so often used. Except it was more potent than that.

She was his; his by right of this moon and this earth and he wouldn't rest until he claimed her as his own.

How ironic that it would all end at the same place where it had all started?

As he walked away, Oliver Trask vowed that justice would be served.

A/N: No hate mails please…. Oliver only there for 2 more chapters. I know it's a bit mushy at the start, and a little out of character for R/M but I am hoping you guys will excuse that and still manage to enjoy.