LITTLE SISTER, NOT SO LITTLE

"Do you know anything that's going on?" Julie asked Kirsten. Her leg was shaking as she was sitting down on the couch in the Cohen's living room.

"No, not at all. Sandy got a call in the middle of the night and rushed out the door. I'm as clueless as you are right now." Kirsten replied.

Marissa then walked in to join Kirsten and Julie, "Ryan's not even in the pool house..."

Summer came from upstairs, "Yeah, Seth's gone..."

"What's going on? Where's Caitlin? And where's Seth, he called us to come here..." Marissa's voice started to shake.

"I'm not sure, honey. Please, just sit down." Kirsten motioned her to come over to the couch. "Both of you, just calm down. Sandy should be home soon, maybe he can explain..."

And on that cue, Caitlin walked in to through the Cohen's front door. Julie and Marissa's attention immediately shot at the door. At the sight of Caitlin, they ran over and attacked her in a hug.

"Caitlin! Oh my God, you've had us worried!" Julie cried.

"What happened?" Marissa asked. But before she could answer, Seth walked into the door.

"Seth!?" Summer ran up to him and smacked his head, "Where have you been!?"

"Ryan and I had to find Caitlin."

"Ryan?" Marissa asked worried.

Ryan slowly walked into the front door. Julie and Summer gasped at his state.

"Oh my God! I'm gonna get a first aid kit!" Kirsten said, running out of the room.

"RYAN!" Marissa ran over to him and hugged him. She began to cry, "What happened to you?"

"Let's go to the family room, we can talk about it there? My legs hurt and I don't feel like standing."

They all made their way to the family room. Ryan collapsed on the couch and Kirsten came in with the first aid kit. She immediately made her way to Ryan and started cleaning the cuts.

"Mom, they cleaned him up at the station." Seth said.

"Station?" Julie asked.

Ryan began to explain, "We, uh–"

"Wait, Ry, let me explain. This was all my doing..." she interrupted him. He nodded at her to go on. "Mom, look... I did some things..."

"Like what?" Julie started to get mad.

"I bought some pot." Caitlin looked at her mom and saw her eyes grow wide. "I'm done now. Don't worry. But look, I owed an ex boyfriend money. Marissa and Ryan helped me out and I paid him back. But he said it wasn't enough. So that explains the whole... kidnapping me."

"Caitlin, you shouldn't have been hanging around with these types of guys in the first place!" Julie said protectively. As Caitlin looked down, knowing she disappointed everyone, Julie showed some sympathy. Her anger and worry and frustration all flushed from her system and began crying. She went over to Caitlin to embrace her in a hug. "Honey, are you okay?"

"I just have a sprained foot. I tried to get out but was caught... Anyways, when I found a cell phone lying around, I took it and called Ryan. I'm sorry I didn't call you guys, I just thought in the situation I was in, Ryan was the only one who could help me."

Julie looked at Ryan and gave him a sincere look, "Thank you."

Marissa snuggled up against Ryan and rested her head on his shoulder. "Who were these people?" she asked.

"One of them, Adam. Another kid was a friend of his, I forgot his name. But there was a third..." Caitlin looked at Ryan, "Ryan, you knew him."

All eyes were now on him. Marissa lifted her head as well to look at him.

"It was Volchok. Pretty small world we live in..."

"Oh my God, he did this to you?" Marissa was starting to cry.

"Look, guys, I'm really sore and tired. Caitlin's safe, I'm alright. That's what matters. I appreciate you all being worried, but everything's going to be alright." Ryan got up and started to walk away, "I'm gonna take a nap. Thank you for all your concerns." Then he continued to make his way to the pool house.

"I'm really sorry again." Caitlin said, getting up. "Mom, I'm tired too, can we go home?"

"Stay in the guest room. It's too early, we're going to have breakfast soon, just sleep for a bit then come back downstairs. Breakfast will be waiting." Sandy offered.

"I'll get the bed ready," Kirsten said. Leaving right away.

Sandy, Caitlin and Julie followed Kirsten and made their way up the stairs, leaving Seth, Summer and Marissa.

"Coop, you okay?" Summer asked.

"I just... if I hadn't hooked up with Kevin in the past, Caitlin wouldn't have been kidnapped and Ryan wouldn't have gotten into this fight."

"Don't blame yourself for this, Coop."

"Summer's right. Your sister's now safe; Ryan said himself that he's going to be fine..." Seth tried to comfort Marissa, "Just be there for them. That's all they probably want from any of us now. That's all they need."

Marissa nodded. She stood up, "I'm going to the pool house, I'll see you guys later."

/

Marissa crept in slowly and saw Ryan, only in his boxers, taking off his wife beater. "Hey," He said, noticing her presence.

She took in the sight. There were bruises and cuts all around his perfect body. She began to cry. Ryan went over to her and took her in a warm hug, "Shhh, hey. I'm going to be fine. Everything'll be fine." Marissa didn't reply but just kept crying into his shoulder. "C'mon, you look tired too. Let's take a nap." Marissa looked up at Ryan and nodded in agreement.

They went over to the bed and laid themselves down. Ryan got a blanket and wrapped it over the both of them. Then he wrapped his arm around Marissa. In response, she grabbed the arm that wrapped around her and held his hand close to her heart.

"I love you." She said, sniffling her nose. She turned around to face him, but still in his tight embrace.

"I love you too." He kissed her forehead and they dozed off to sleep.

/

Ryan stirred in his sleep and opened his eyes slowly. He looked over to the clock and read that it was 10:34 AM. He saw Marissa in his arms, in deep sleep. He didn't want to wake her so he slowly detangled himself from her grip and got out of bed. He put on some sweatpants and a shirt on, and made his way to the house to get some breakfast. Walking into the kitchen he saw Caitlin sitting down on the dining table alone. She was playing with her finished bowl of cereal.

"Hey," he said, sitting down next to her. "Did you get any sleep?"

"No, I couldn't sleep." She said, looking down on her bowl of cereal.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"I don't know.."

"Caitlin." Ryan said in a serious tone, making her look up to meet him with her eyes. "What did they do to you? What did he do to you?"

"Adam tried to... but I pushed him off and he didn't try to go any further... And Kevin was never around. He was only there to creep me out with his looks. The rest of the time, he was busy making phone calls and running errands for his weed-cocaine-and other drugs business."

"Are you... okay?"

"I'm..." she hesitated for a moment, "I'm fine. Maybe not 100%, but I will be. Thank you again for rescuing me. Even if you and Marissa weren't together I still see you as my older brother. I know I can always lean on you."

"You will always be my little sister... But Caitlin, no more of this okay? I know this wasn't your fault, but no more getting involved with crazy people."

"Don't worry, I'm done with dating for a while. I guess... now, I'll focus on my senior year; make the best out of high school and get out of there as soon as possible."

Ryan smiled. "My little sister isn't so little anymore."

Caitlin laughed, "Well actually, I never was little Ryan."

Ryan got up and grabbed breakfast. Two bagels for him and Marissa, as well as two cups of coffee. Before heading back out to the pool house, he looked at Caitlin one more time and smiled at her.

"You're okay now. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"I know." She smiled at him. He gave her an assuring kiss on the forehead then made his way back to Marissa.

/

Ryan walked in with breakfast to find his girlfriend still sleeping. He put down the food and coffee and went over to open the blinds. As the light shone through, Marissa woke up slowly.

"Mmm, what time is it?" she said, her eyes readjusting to the light.

"It's almost 11, You hungry?"

Marissa rolled over to the other side of the bed to meet Ryan. She gave him a quick kiss, "Starving!"

"I have bagels and coffee." He said, offering it to her.

"Breakfast in bed? I love you, you know that?"

"I try." He joked, handing her a bagel and cup of coffee.

"Is Caitlin awake yet?"

"Yeah, I ran into her while getting breakfast."

Marissa looked down. She seemed nervous in front of Ryan, "How... is she?"

"She's doing better."

"Ryan, what happened when you went to go get her?"

"I... I had to do what I had to do. Yes, I prefer the little rescue mission to not have involved Volchok, but it happened."

"Did he..?"

"He didn't do anything to her. She told me. She wasn't abused or anything. Just the sprained ankle."

"What did he want from her?"

Ryan contemplated whether or not to tell Marissa. He didn't want to upset her even more. But he knew they promised to each other: no more secrets. "You. He wanted to see you."

"Oh my God, I should have known..."

"Don't beat yourself up or anything. I don't want you to do that. Caitlin doesn't either. None of this is your fault, okay? I love you." Ryan sat on the bed and kissed Marissa, telling her everything will be alright with that one kiss.

"Thank you."

"You two mean a lot to me. I'd do anything for you, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I do. You're always there for me and her..."

"And I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." After a few seconds of silence, Ryan could see the sadness in Marissa's eyes. "Your sister loves you. She knows you love her."

"So why didn't she call me?"

"She knew the type of danger she was in and she didn't want you to go through what she was going through. She even said on the phone to specifically not tell you because she didn't want to get you in trouble. As much as you look out for her, she also does for you."

Marissa began actually understanding why things happened the way it did.

"Look, why don't you and your sister take the day and just hang out? I'm sure she misses you just as much you miss her. And I've been hogging you all holidays..."

"Thanks...And I'm sorry that you had to be dragged in on all of my family drama."

"Don't apologize... I love you and your sister."

Marissa smiled at Ryan, "Should I be jealous?" she tried lightening the mood.

Ryan laughed then turned serious; he cupped Marissa's face in his hands. He leaned his forehead in as it rested on hers, "You know what I mean. I love your sister like she's my sister. But you..." Marissa looked into his deep blue eyes. "In the past, with my mom or Trey or Theresa, I never really felt loved nor did I know how to love. But here I am with you. I've never felt this way before. I love you Marissa Cooper."

Marissa kissed him hard. She knew he doesn't talk much so for him to say all of that meant the world to her.

He pulled away for a second, "Wait, you should finish eating breakfast."

"Suddenly not so hungry." He smiled at her comment and began kissing her again. They both fell on the bed and Marissa smiled into the kisses Ryan gave her. She loves the fact that he cares so much. Not just for her, but for her family too. How protective he is. She couldn't help but feel safe in his arms.