A/N: So yeah… I am back to this piece of fiction I thought I'd never complete. But what can I say… the muse controls you and not the other way round. In this chapter I am once again focusing more on Ryan and Marissa. I want to sink my claws into their life, their relationship with each other and their relationship with their children, before everything will change. And it soon will. Coz Knowing Oliver, he cant sit still for long without stirring things up and truth be told, I want to get Oliver out of this fic as fast as possible. I really hate that guy. Also, I want to introduce Jason and his relationship with Seejay and why he feels so strongly for the guy (in a completely brotherly non creepy way..) And why in spite of having so many friends, he still counts on Seejay more than anyone else.

Now on with this Fic… enjoy!

Chapter 5: the New Years Eve.

She checks herself once, then twice. She wants everything perfect for tonight. The mirror in front of her does not lie to her as it reflects her thirty five year old slender frame clad in a black off shoulder knee length dress. She carefully applies a minimum amount of make up, just enough to cover the subtle flaws that aren't flaws at all and pulls on the green hanging drop earrings that Ryan has given to compliment the classic, timeless look that she is going for. But whichever way she sees it, she isn't sixteen anymore.

She sighs.

It isn't that she is insecure about her looks or the way she has aged as some of her Newport counterparts are. It's just that, tonight she wants her husband to remember her exactly the way she used to look 20 years ago. Just for tonight she wants to be that teenager whose fantasy came true when her boyfriend had raced up the steps at the toll of midnight on the New Year's Eve and said those three special words, altering her life forever.

But like she'd said before, she isn't sixteen anymore.

And this'll have to do.

His hands slide easily across her waist as he draws her behind, flush with his body and teases the nape of her neck with his barely whispered words. "Honey, you look beautiful". He can't even begin to describe what it feels like, holding her this close, breathing in the scent of her. He can never get tired of it, never want it to change. He is so in love with her.

Always was, always will be.

Her eyes clash his through the mirror and she wonders how he does it. With a single whispered word, with a simple blue eyed look he makes her feel - breathless, anxious, giddy, making all of her earlier insecurities disappear.

She grins, giving him a long low flirtatious look. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"When you look at me like that…." Swiftly he turns her around, his hands pulling her body even closer.

"Like what?" she teases.

He gives her a look of his own. His smouldering blue eyes move over hers, from the top of her golden hair, to her still trim waist, to her long, long legs… and soon she is breathless and hot.

Unable to help herself, she pulls his lips towards her claiming them in a hot passionate kiss. "You think you are so cute."

"I kinda am."

One kiss leads to another, the kisses escalate and soon their hands are all over each other, their bodies straining, wanting nothing more than to end this sweet pain.

"Maybe... maybe we should skip the party and have a party of our own." He trails hot kisses down her collarbone, his voice husky with controlled passion as he pushes her backwards until she falls on the bed with him lying on top of her.

Her breath hitches at his words, her actions completely contrasting what she says next. Wrapping her long limbs against his hips and pulling him closer, her body arching with her own need, she whispers, "Nope. Don't want to skip this one."

"What if I make you?" his hands pull her skirt up, a finger trailing seductively against where she aches the most and she loses her mind, every coherent thought flowing out of her brain.

A last ditch attempt, a last shred of sanity and she rolls them over so that she is the one straddling him now, her hands swiftly dipping inside. "What if I drag you?"

"I am stronger."

"I am wilier."

"Marissa, I…"

He gasps as in one swift motion she enters, stopping their battle of wills, stopping whatever he is about to say, giving them both exactly what they have wanted all along. Its quick, its hard, its passionate and all the more satisfying for it all as they slowly pull apart, both breathing hard, both laughing, and both realizing that they have just behaved like hormonal, giddy teenagers. They are still fully clothed and she haphazardly sits on his lap, and rests her temple on his, trying to get her breathing to return to a somewhat normal pace. She tenderly brushes the damp hair that have fallen on his face; her fingers lovingly tracing the sweaty angles of his face, a contented Cheshire smile gracing her lips "I love you."

His eyes clash with hers wondering about her suddenly pensive mood. Then he remembers something and his mouth turns up into a crooked smile. "Thank you?"

She laughs, then playfully pokes him back. "Way to ruin a moment, Atwood."

"I did do that, didn't I?"

"A little bit." She answers giving him a soft smile. "Here I was opening my heart up to anyone for the very first time… the words never more meaningful than then and you said 'thank you...'" she jabs him lightly on the chest, in mock anger. "Thank you, Ryan? You couldn't come up with anything better?"

"But think of this from my point of view…" Ryan answers, arranging her so that she now sits firmly against him. "I had never met anyone this beautiful and I had never said those words to anyone before… I got flummoxed. Besides, it's not like you didn't give me hell for it later on."

"I did?"

"You taunted me by going to that party with Oliver, remember? Of all the people to come in between us, he was a tool."

"I'd have to agree. And I am sorry for that." She eyes him seriously. "I should have believed you, and I didn't. You don't know how much I regret that."

"But then we did have this perfect moment." He answers lightly, breaking the seriousness of her words. He has forgiven her a long time ago. Really, there was nothing to forgive. She had just trusted the wrong person and he hadn't helped any better by stealing the letter from her locker. But forgiving Oliver was another matter. The fucker had pulled a gun on her and whatever else he could forgive; he would never forgive anyone that. To think that if things had gone wrong, she might not be sitting here with him… he shudders just thinking about it.

"Kind of like the perfect moment, we are about to have tonight." She lightly jumps from his embrace, and pulls him away from the bed. "So common Mr Atwood, or else we'll be late and I, for one, think you've become too old to rush up the stairs now."

…

I feel like something is about to happen tonight. Something big, something earth shattering and somehow, God only knows how - my dad is in the middle of it. Call it a carefully cultivated instinct; call it a survivor's lifeboat, but I know that my dad is up to no good. So as always, it is up to me to protect him, prevent whatever he is about to do and reverse the ill fate that falls upon us mostly at his instigation.

Don't get me wrong. I know his faults better than anyone else and I sure as hell don't condone them but, I mean… he is my dad. The only frigging family that I have and I cannot…just cannot turn my back on him. The Trask's protect their own. That's my simple rule and I live by that.

It all started with little hints, pushing me together when it wasn't required, veiled taunts that I could barely attach any meaning to and above all the relative freedom that I had never received before. 'Go to school, ill be okay.', 'you don't have to take care of me', 'enjoy with your friends' - when had my dad, conscious or otherwise had ever said things like that? Not that I am complaining. I got to spend time with the wonderful family that sort of accepted me at least partially into their lives. But the very fact that this did not bother my dad bothered me.

"Dad." I shout impatiently, entering the hall of our small apartment dressed in the only formal dress shirt and pants that I have, the present that I have carefully picked up for the Atwoods clutched firmly in my hands. I still can't believe that they invited me to the four season's for the New Years Eve. Their generosity amazes me. And I want this gift to convey that. It isn't something extravagant. It's just a picture that I have clicked unbeknownst to them while I had attended their Christmas dinner with all of them in it. I had wrapped it in a cheap, gold bordered frame. But this is about all I can afford. It is all I can give.

And all I want out of this is for them to understand just how thankful I am… thankful for showing me the kind of kindness and support that they have shown. Truly… I'll never forget that.

"Dad…" I say again, walking into his bedroom to make sure that he is okay and more than that to make sure that that weird horrible queasy feeling that I have in the pit of my stomach is completely unfounded.

But as I enter his room, I come to an abrupt pause. No other words come out as I stare at him shell-shocked. Freshly shaven, dressed in a crisp blue suit he looks nothing like his former self. Bright eyes sans any form of alcohol, his hair neatly combed he looks too good to be true. "Wow, dad.., you look amazing."

"You think?" he grins and his grin is so infectious, that I smile back.

"Where are you going?" I casually ask.

"Out." A wicked grin forms on his face and that uneasy feeling is back.

"Out where?" I persist. I don't want him walking along the streets of Newport unsupervised. It is too risky and I have to protect my dad. I'd skip this once in a lifetime opportunity to go with him just to make sure he is okay and I tell him as much.

He laughs. "Oh shush. You go ahead. I don't want you curtailing your social activities because of me."

There it is… those words again. It's like seeing the expression on a kids face who has just received a hundred candies. Everything about that expression bothers me.

"So you think she'll like the way I look after all these years?" he excitedly asks.

"Who?" I look at him sceptically trying to discern what he is thinking.

"Marissa." He says, almost reverently.

I cock my head to one side. "Marissa?" I question. The name is familiar to me. Ive heard it somewhere but I can't quite place it.

"Cooper." He supplies as if that explains everything. A dreamy, sappy look comes into his eyes and that's when it strikes me exactly where I have heard that name…

It had been 2 years since my mom had left and my dad was in one of his uncharacteristic moods when he had just stuck to alcohol. That meant he was lucid enough to talk and he had made me sit down beside him, and cruelly told me while thrusting raw whisky down my throat that my mom was the dumbest whore the world had ever seen and he had been crazy to marry her. I had stared at him, my twelve year old mind had been too raw, too untrained to bear the news like that. He had told me about her then, this Marissa, about how she had accepted him for exactly who he was, how she had loved him just as much as he had loved her, about how she knew his problems because she had battled with the same problems herself. But someone else had come in the way and had screwed everything up and she'd left him.

'Cooper' was the name and 'Newport' had been the place.

Shit… How could I forget? Newport… I should have remembered.

"But dad, does she know you are here?" .

"She doesn't know yet," A mad demonic, gleam enters his eyes. "But she soon will."

I have seen that half crazed, half cursed look before. In and out, in and out his brain goes, till he can't understand what is real and what is but a figment of his imagination. And he will do anything… kill... when he is like that. I fear that look every day of my life. Now I know exactly what is wrong.I know what he is going to do because the pattern repeats itself and it never stops. She is his new victim. It is Seattle all over again, it is Brooklyn all over again, it is every other place that we have ever run away from. Coercion, blackmail, fights, crying, cops and running… a deep fear grips me, my breath coming in shallow gasps.

"But the moment she does she will be ecstatic." my dad continues, his eyes glazy, unaware that my mood has changed and I now observe him like a snake charmer would observe a snake that was about to pounce, "She is so beautiful; you won't know what's hit you. She has money too… good amount and the years wouldn't matter. Everything else that's happened wouldn't matter. All that would matter is the love that I have for her and as I tell it to her when we ring in 2011 all our problems will disappear…"

"Maybe… maybe you shouldn't do that." I frightfully warn.

"Oh common…" he shushes me, laughing crazily. "Stop being such a spoil sport. I have a plan in motion to get her and unlike the last time I won't make any mistakes. Everything will work out. You'll see."

I know nothing will. Things like these never do. And I know that it is up to me to protect you. Always has been, always will be.

A steely determination enters my eyes. "Not if I don't allow you too."

"But what can you do? What can you do?" he threateningly asks.

….

The pent house of the four seasons is set.

The drinks, the hors de vors, the lights, the music and the waiters rushing from each guest to the other are of the highest standards that Newport has ever seen. The guests themselves are 'the who's who' of this small gated community.

And everyone knows that when the successful architect who builds their million dollar mansions and who is now the owner of the Newport group (the richest company in Newport), throws a party, everyone who is lucky enough to get the invite, shows up. That he is a very basic and down to earth guy, that he comes from a very humble background, a place called Chino they haven't even heard of and that he sometimes does things like opening a shelter for the homeless or running a group home for free that they can barely understand, are traits they are willing to forget. He has the money after all and he has married one of their own. He is what they call the 'crème the la crème' of the Newport society, and it is unquestionable that his son – Jason – is the most eligible bachelor in town.

It doesn't matter that he is only fifteen, with his whole life ahead of him. They all know that the choices you make at that tender age affected the rest of your life. So the girls clamour to meet him, guys call him their best buddy and the Newpsie mother's fawn all over him making him breakfasts and lunches, touching his arms flirtatiously and making not so subtle suggestions of throwing their girls at him. The fact that he is extremely good-looking having inherited his father's blonde hair and his mother's blue eyes, is good at sports and gets good grades is just the icing on the cake.

For his part – Jason hates it.

He checks his watch once again. It's 10.30… Still two more hours for this ridiculous party to end. Linda and Amy are making a fool of themselves planning the perfect after party while his gang of fiends, chief among them Rod and Disney (really who names their kid Disney?) drool on. He is tired of them, tired of their ridiculously lewd behaviour, tired of the fact that they seem unwilling to pull themselves away from the Newport bubble long enough to think of the world outside of these beautiful walls, a world he has this insatiable craving to experience.

He doesn't blame them. After all, everything about him is different from them. Starting from his house, not that it isn't big enough, or beautiful enough, because it is both, rather, it is the people in it that make all the difference to him. Displacing the frigid atmosphere of most homes he goes to, his house is always warm and welcoming, where his friends usually eat catered food, he usually gets home cooked meals just like a normal middle class guy would, and the dinner they have, has some real conversation.

He is proud of the fact his parents love each other deeply, that his parents have never brought him up in the lap of luxury. They have always been quick to correct, quick to support and quick to love him, but they have never showered him with unnecessary presents, and he has always had to work hard to get what he wanted.

Simply put – he doesn't fit. He does great to pretend that he does, sometimes even fooling himself, but he doesn't… not really. So yeah… Newport's opulence, its overbearing attitude and its shallow, mindless people are so different from what he gets at home that it is starting to get to him.

And that's why when he meets the new shy, vulnerable, brilliant transfer student called Seejay… he forms his new escape. With him, he doesn't have to be anyone except Jason, he doesn't have to pretend to be a mindless jock, He can tell him whatever he wants and he can feel… and not be afraid of getting ridiculed for 'feeling'.

He checks his watch once again… where in the hell is Seejay?

….

The four friends talk to each other like they have done for the better part of the evening. The dances have been danced, the small conversations have been had and now a lull, a pre – new year comfortable silence envelops.

"I feel sad for Gracie." Seth suddenly pipes in. "I mean here we are, enjoying this brilliant champagne, in the pent house of the four seasons no less and she is stuck with Grandma Julie." Seth points to himself. "Get that Ryan, me and Grace share a grandma… How incestuous is that?"

"Oh Cohen, shut up." Summer punches him. "He is been repeating the same joke over and over again ever since he came to know that Julie is babysitting Grace. Incidentally Coop, you couldn't find anyone else?"

"Don't get Marissa started." Ryan warns. "I had to practically bribe her with everything that I have to convince her to leave Grace behind."

"I know it's not right to wish that she would be with us right now, but without Grace, none of this feels right." Marissa sighs.

"I know baby, but she is still four. She is too young for parties. Besides if I know your mom, they will be having a party of their own. Don't be surprised if she teaches our daughter to gamble in this one night."

"Ryan…"

"What? It's true. You do remember that on Jason's 10th birthday she gave him a fully paid trip to Las Vegas right? "

"She did that?" Seth laughs. "If you can say one thing about Julie Cooper, she is not dull."

"Nor was she welcome in our house for a long time after that." Ryan chuckles. "Marissa's rule."

"What is it like to be a mom, Coop…?"

"Scary… and wonderful and brilliant and scary once again." Marissa gushes. "half the time you are so scared that you are going to do something wrong, hurt them somehow, and then they do something like maybe hold your hands and give you a smile and then… it's the best feeling in the whole world. I can't explain."

"I am going to be a mom." Summer suddenly says. "We found out this evening and we've just been so happy that we became selfish, wanting to keep this to ourselves for a little while longer."

"Oh My god Sum… I am so happy for you."

"And there is something else." Seth gushes. "I don't know how you guys will react but we thought that we'd move back. I've wanted to try the P.D's office for a long time and we just wanted to bring up the kid here with his family, with his cousins and with you guys around. Truth be told, I was starting to miss Newport."

"That's what we've been talking the whole evening." Summer explains. "And that's why we got late."

For a moment no one says anything and then suddenly the four friends start laughing and crying and enveloping each other in bear hugs as congratulations flow freely. To be together everyday, to experience all the small parts of life with each other, weekly dinners and daily shopping trips, to regain their youth… it is the best feeling to have.

And as the countdown begins, the four friends' pair off.

10…

9….

8….

Ryan pulls Marissa towards him. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jason and his friends preparing to do the same. Seth winks at him, and Summer smiles.

7…

6…

5…

Marissa raises her eyes to his, a wide smile gracing her face.

4…

3…

2…

He prepares for his perfect moment, as his hands automatically find their way to the base of her hair to pull her lips in a passionate kiss.

1…

The lights go off and he wonders if Marissa has done that just to tease him and he smiles. His smile remains frozen as the lights come on and he feels Marissa being wrenched from his hand, hears her screams. And then Ryan's world is pushed into an abysmal darkness as he sees a face that he thought he'd never see, grabbing his wife, pulling her to him and forcefully kissing her lips. And then a different voice, a haunted voice, a voice that belongs to his past, whispers.

"Happy New year, Ryan Atwood. I've waited for this for so long."

And with Ryan Atwood, the multibillion dollar suave architect, the father of two children, the husband of a loving wife, loses it as his fists connects with that jaw.

In the chaos that ensues, Jason runs towards his family. "Dad!"

"Dad!" Seejay shouts doing the same, coming between Ryan and Oliver as he picks his father up and bodily forms a shield.

"Oliver?" Marissa whispers, "You are Oliver's son?"

And with that Seejay understands. "Oh My God, and you are Marissa." He softly whispers.