New Story! Don't Fear the Reaper (OC, R)
Title: Don't Fear the Reaper: Five Ways Marissa Cooper Dies
Author: Pouncer
Fandom: The O.C.
Rating: R
Category: AU, angst
Summary: She always walked close to the edge. Falls were inevitable.
2600+ words.
Don't Fear the Reaper: Five Ways Marissa Cooper Dies
By Pouncer
1. Welcome to the Darkside
Sirens wake Ryan the morning after the fashion show, after his introduction to Newport society. He pushes himself up from the pool house bed in a rush of worry. Are the cops coming for him? Did that water polo player press charges?
Seth's dark curls are buried under a pillow. Before Ryan can get himself upright, Mrs. Cohen appears in the doorway. "Seth?" she asks, and the worried lines of her face smooth. "Oh, thank God." She doesn't seem to notice that Seth is hung over, but her eyes widen at the bruising.
Seth's voice is thick when he asks, "What?"
Ryan's still rubbing at his eyes, trying to jumpstart his brain into coherence.
Mrs. Cohen rushes over to hug her son, petting his back while Seth squirms. "Seth, it's awful. Marissa Cooper -" Her voice breaks and she can't continue.
A wail intrudes from outside and Ryan stands up and walks over to the pool house doors. Mrs. Cohen is now crying into Seth's hair. They should have privacy.
Mr. Cohen watches something over the railing, looking down into the Cooper driveway, wearing a t-shirt and boxers and a robe, none of them coordinated. The unearthly wail breaks into sobbing. Mr. Cohen lifts a hand to Ryan's shoulder when he comes to a halt.
"Oh, kid," Mr. Cohen says. "You don't want to see this."
"What happened?" Ryan asks.
"Marissa Cooper. She was outside last night, for some reason." Ryan flashes on Marissa guzzling down liquor at the party and wonders if she was too drunk to unlock her front door.
Mr. Cohen continues, "We have problems with mountain lions sometimes, and one must have been in the area. I just can't believe -" He shakes his head.
Ryan peers over the edge, sees a man holding a red-haired woman who shrieks and struggles while the paramedics mill about. A broken-looking form lies on the pavement, long golden-brown hair flung over her face. There's a cavity where none should exist at her belly, red entrails and white bone showing instead of skin, and Ryan gasps.
"Poor girl. I guess there are worse things than grand theft auto?" Mr. Cohen asks.
Ryan nods his head, wide-eyed. At least he'd be alive in juvie. Seth was right last night. This place was the dark side.
2. The Final Countdown
None of them understand him. Oliver knows this. Not his parents, not Natalie, not any of his supposed friends. Even Marissa, his beautiful, genuine Marissa, has proven herself wrong. She doesn't care. Nobody cares.
She's saying something, her eyes on the gun in his hand. Oliver doesn't want to listen, just like he doesn't want to listen to the men pounding at the suite doors. It's all just noise, anyway. Nonsensical sounds, proof that the universe hates him. Everybody hates him, and he'll show them. He will. When he's gone, they'll care.
Marissa is sobbing now, reaching out, trying to take the gun from him. She can't do that. She can't. Her face twists and snot runs out of her finely-drawn nose and Oliver realizes she's not really beautiful. No, her inner soul is dark with selfishness and misery. She doesn't deserve to feel sad for him.
Oliver lifts the gun, pulls her close, deaf to her weeping and pleas. She tries to struggle, but she's too weak. The boom of the gun overrides the other noise, and she falls, her face gone. Now they'll see how ugly she really is.
He raises the gun again, to his temple, and smiles.
3. Trojan Horse
Alex's friends Kyle and Steve flank her as she stalks toward the Harbor School bonfire, reassuring backup. Not that any of these pampered kids could stop her.
The giant horse isn't burning yet. It will soon enough. Alex is taking Ryan down.
Marissa darts up, tries to talk Alex out of this, but Alex saw her, saw Ryan and Marissa hugging and staring into each other's eyes. Alex can't stand cheaters. And Marissa wouldn't have done anything if Ryan hadn't started lurking around, tempting her with his bad-boy image.
Alex'll show Marissa that tough isn't limited to guys with their pricks and balls. As if she hadn't known that anyway, from the way Alex made Marissa come with fingers and tongue alone. Marissa had told Alex no boy had ever made her feel so good.
Ryan walks up, tries to push his weight around, the sanctimonious bastard. Alex goes for his throat. It's thick under her hands, sweaty, and his jaw feels rough with beard stubble. Marissa shrieks, the students murmur and gather round as Alex and Ryan tussle. Kyle and Steve hold off friends who try to get between them.
Ryan's stronger than her, not hesitating to take her on after their confrontation the other night, but Alex fights dirty. Who cares about a punch to the ribs when she can knee him in the balls? Ryan falls and Alex starts to kick him but Marissa intercedes.
"Alex! This is crazy! Stop it!" Marissa grabs Alex's shoulders, shakes her. "What are you doing?"
Alex looks into Marissa's face and realizes that they'll never work. They're too different, and Marissa's princess self won't mesh with Alex's life. But Alex can't let Ryan think she's backing down. She must have only gotten a glancing blow in, because he's gotten to his feet again and is trying to move Marissa aside.
Alex yells - she hates him so much - and swings as hard as she can, trying to smash his handsome face into pulp. She hits Marissa instead.
It was an accident. It was. Alex would never hurt Marissa. She stepped into the punch. She did.
Time freezes and Alex wants to take it back. She pulls her hand toward her side, but Marissa has fallen, twisted and crumpled. Alex drops to her knees. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry."
Ryan is there, on Marissa's other side, reaching out for her shoulder. She's lying so still. Alex's hands start to tremble and she brushes Marissa's hair back from her face. Marissa's eyes are open, unblinking.
"Marissa?" Ryan's voice shakes.
Alex traces the line of Marissa's jaw, down her neck. Such soft skin. "Marissa?" Alex calls, but there's no answer.
Ryan pulls back on Marissa's shoulder, and she collapses flat onto the sand. Alex starts to sob. She can see the rock now, too big for this beach, sharp edges pointing upward and tinged crimson. There's a matching impression in Marissa's temple.
The watching students fall silent. Alex can't stop crying.
Ryan shakes Marissa, Summer kneels next to her with an open mouth and shocked eyes.
Alex never hears a clock tick again.
4. Birthday Presents
Trey returns to the party feeling loose and satisfied. That blonde was just what he needed to erase the stench of prison from his body. And her skin was so soft. Trey smirks at the thought of her mouth, so dirty in comparison to her sweet looks. Oh yeah.
He wanders through the throng of strangers, searching for other opportunities. Marissa finds him first, smiles at him with a blank expression on her face. She looks like a doll instead of a real girl.
"What do you think of your party?" she asks, a little bit rueful at how out of control it is.
Trey could have done with fewer people, but when it was just little brother Ryan and his three friends it felt like a wake. And there was the blonde to consider.
"It's nice," Trey says and moves closer to her. "How about a drink?" he asks.
"Sure." She moves off to the bar the crashers set up.
Trey relishes the bite of the 7&7 going down his throat. Another thing he'd missed while he was in jail.
He lets the atmosphere wash over him, watches the rich kids go at it. They are wild and make Chino look like a sandbox for toddlers. Pills are popped, intriguing substances sniffed, and Trey thinks he sees someone slipping something into girls' drinks. Not his problem.
Marissa lingers at his side, chatting about things Ryan has done here, trouble he's gotten into, all the while sipping at something fruity mixed with vodka. Sounds like little brother hasn't changed all that much.
The 7&7 slips down smoothly now and the lamps have blurred. Trey's head lightens until it's floating, and he staggers when he tries to move.
"I think," he tells Marissa, "I'm going to sit down."
She smiles at him and gives a little wave, then picks up her cup again.
Trey falls into a pleasant haze, and listens to the music.
He's jolted awake by a scream. Then a chorus of screams. Girls are so dumb.
He goes to look at whatever is making them panic - probably a snake or something.
A girl floats facedown in the pool, hair haloed around her head. Trey winces, because all he needs is for his parole officer to discover he's been at a party like this. Time to go.
Ryan pounds on Trey's door at dawn. Trey's head doesn't need any encouragement to ache, and he's not exactly friendly as he confronts Ryan's clenched jaw. Typical little brother drama.
"What?" Trey growls.
Ryan's eyes are red and his hands are curled into fists. "I thought you'd want to know," Ryan says. His voice is raspy and hoarse. "Marissa was in that pool. I saw you leave."
Trey just wants this scolding over with. Ryan never could let things go.
"Not good for my parole," Trey says. He hopped the wall and walked home, head still spinning.
"Yeah," Ryan says. "It wasn't good for Marissa either. She died." Ryan looks away then, and Trey's never seen him like this, not even when Dad got sent away for hard time.
"Dude." Trey can't grasp what happened. "What?"
"We tried CPR," Ryan continues, then shakes his head. He's lost, Trey can tell, so he pulls Ryan inside and sits him down on the floor, one arm slung over Ryan's shoulders.
"She was fine," Trey says. "Last time I saw her."
Ryan's head tips back against the wall. "They don't know what happened. But the cops found drugs everywhere."
"Not mine," Trey denies immediately. But he saw them all over the place. Oh fuck. Somebody probably put something in her drink. Can't let little brother know. "Are you okay?" Trey asks.
Ryan's eyes burn when he turns toward Trey. "No."
5. Surfing USA
"You have to come help!" is the first thing Kaitlin says when Marissa picks up the phone. Johnny is climbing the rock face at the back of the beach, and he's drunk way too much tequila.
"Help with what?" Marissa says and she sounds like she's been crying.
"With Johnny. Marissa, please, we're at the beach." Kaitlin is whining and she knows it, but she doesn't care. This is too freaky.
"Johnny." Marissa's tone indicates she doesn't care. "Great. Ryan won't talk to me because of him, and now you're telling me he needs help. Haven't I helped him enough?"
"Marissa, I'm scared. He could really hurt himself." Tears leak down her cheeks and God, Kaitlin thought she could handle anything but she was wrong.
Marissa sighs on the other end of the line, so put-upon, but she says, "Okay, I'll be there."
"Hurry," Kaitlin pleads and stands, terrified, while Johnny raves more and more about the duplicity of her sister. Kaitlin knew Marissa brought all the boys to the yard, but she didn't realize how obsessed they could get.
"She acted like I meant something to her," Johnny yells.
"You do mean something to her," Kaitlin responds, more than a little bit desperate. "She'll be here in just a few minutes. Why don't you come down here and wait for her?"
He keeps climbing. "All I ever wanted was to surf," he says and waves a hand at the ocean to emphasize the point. Kaitlin barely holds in a scream.
It seems like forever until Marissa shows up, time slowed to ice, not melted by the heat from the bonfire.
Kaitlin wanted to make a place for herself here. Why should Marissa be crowned Princess of Newport? What had she done that's so special? Kaitlin's exiled to boarding school after her parents divorce while older sis goes crazy and gets all the glory.
Maybe it wasn't glory at all.
Kaitlin's chanting please, please, please under her breath when Marissa arrives, trying to keep Johnny from falling by sheer force of will.
"Oh my God," Marissa says. Flames from the bonfire reflect in her eyes when she turns to Kaitlin. "I don't want to startle him. What do I do?"
"How should I know?" Kaitlin says. "He's your friend. He loves you." Marissa would be hopeless at this. Of course she would.
Marissa looks up at Johnny, distant now, a spider with only a thin strand of silk preventing disaster. "Here goes," she mutters, then calls, "Johnny? Why don't you come down here and we can talk?"
He stills and his face gleams in the starlight when he looks over his shoulder. "Why don't you come up here?" Then he heaves his body over the top of the rock and Kaitlin feels a rush as tension dissolves. Oh thank God. He's safe and now they just have to coax him back down.
A sudden chill hits Kaitlin's arm and she realizes Marissa is walking toward the rock face. "Marissa! What are you doing?" Kaitlin plucks at her shoulder, but Marissa keeps going.
She kicks her shoes into the sand and shakes Kaitlin's hands off.
"Marissa!"
"Look, Kaitlin," Marissa says. "Johnny and I need to settle things between us." She turns and that model-perfect smile adorns her face. "I'll be fine. Go wait by the bonfire."
Kaitlin wants to object more, but it's not like Marissa's ever listened to her. So she retreats to the fire, kneels down and pokes at the coals with a spare branch of driftwood. Sparks flare and flames dance, reaching for the stars. Kaitlin can't look, not while Marissa climbs.
Voices float from above, and when Kaitlin turns she can see Marissa and Johnny standing facing each other. She made it to the top. They look intense, and Kaitlin wishes she could hear their words, but they're a blur. The pounding surf overrides their conversation. Johnny reaches out a hand to Marissa, who takes it, then he jerks her into his arms, kisses her. Marissa struggles, trying to free herself, and they're too close to the edge.
Kaitlin rises to her feet, digs for her cell phone again. Who can she call now? Somebody needs to stop this.
The bodies on the top of the rock have melded into one mutated form, all arms and legs and motion. Kaitlin can make out Marissa's voice now. "Let go!" she cries and pushes against Johnny. He stumbles back, and for the length of one indrawn breath, Kaitlin thinks it'll be okay. Johnny will catch his balance and he'll be shaken enough to listen to reason.
That doesn't happen. Kaitlin watches, motionless, appalled, as Johnny grabs at Marissa, pulls her toward him.
And then they fall, two bodies connected by emotions Kaitlin can't even name.
Marissa's scream splits the air in unison with Kaitlin's, then cuts off with a sickening thump.
Kaitlin stumbles backwards, each thudding step a whispered reflection, until her feet are wet by the on-rushing surf. She doesn't look at her cell phone as she hits the speed dial and brings it up to her ear. Her eyes can't leave the crumpled heap at the base of the rock.
One ring. Two. Three. Please.
A click when the other line answers and Kaitlin says, "Mommy?"
Her mommy will make everything better.
- end -
Notes: I've had the idea for this story since the first season, but it seemed too mean-spirited. Maybe it still is, but I had to write it now. (Three first season alternative deaths: In TJ, by overdose. Drunk driving her car off a cliff, after Ryan is too late to stop her leaving the Christmas party. Drinking angstily in Caleb's mansion after he marries Julie. Marissa falls off her balcony and into the pool and drowns.) My thanks to maudgonne for the beta.
Also! After I wrote this, I was researching UC-Irvine for a ficlet, and they have mountain lions on their campus! Not five miles from Newport! I wrote it as a joke, kind of, but sometimes the world really is stranger than fiction.
Disclaimer: Schwartz owns this, not me.
Feedback eases Ryan's guilt. Don't you want that?
Author: Pouncer
Fandom: The O.C.
Rating: R
Category: AU, angst
Summary: She always walked close to the edge. Falls were inevitable.
2600+ words.
Don't Fear the Reaper: Five Ways Marissa Cooper Dies
By Pouncer
1. Welcome to the Darkside
Sirens wake Ryan the morning after the fashion show, after his introduction to Newport society. He pushes himself up from the pool house bed in a rush of worry. Are the cops coming for him? Did that water polo player press charges?
Seth's dark curls are buried under a pillow. Before Ryan can get himself upright, Mrs. Cohen appears in the doorway. "Seth?" she asks, and the worried lines of her face smooth. "Oh, thank God." She doesn't seem to notice that Seth is hung over, but her eyes widen at the bruising.
Seth's voice is thick when he asks, "What?"
Ryan's still rubbing at his eyes, trying to jumpstart his brain into coherence.
Mrs. Cohen rushes over to hug her son, petting his back while Seth squirms. "Seth, it's awful. Marissa Cooper -" Her voice breaks and she can't continue.
A wail intrudes from outside and Ryan stands up and walks over to the pool house doors. Mrs. Cohen is now crying into Seth's hair. They should have privacy.
Mr. Cohen watches something over the railing, looking down into the Cooper driveway, wearing a t-shirt and boxers and a robe, none of them coordinated. The unearthly wail breaks into sobbing. Mr. Cohen lifts a hand to Ryan's shoulder when he comes to a halt.
"Oh, kid," Mr. Cohen says. "You don't want to see this."
"What happened?" Ryan asks.
"Marissa Cooper. She was outside last night, for some reason." Ryan flashes on Marissa guzzling down liquor at the party and wonders if she was too drunk to unlock her front door.
Mr. Cohen continues, "We have problems with mountain lions sometimes, and one must have been in the area. I just can't believe -" He shakes his head.
Ryan peers over the edge, sees a man holding a red-haired woman who shrieks and struggles while the paramedics mill about. A broken-looking form lies on the pavement, long golden-brown hair flung over her face. There's a cavity where none should exist at her belly, red entrails and white bone showing instead of skin, and Ryan gasps.
"Poor girl. I guess there are worse things than grand theft auto?" Mr. Cohen asks.
Ryan nods his head, wide-eyed. At least he'd be alive in juvie. Seth was right last night. This place was the dark side.
2. The Final Countdown
None of them understand him. Oliver knows this. Not his parents, not Natalie, not any of his supposed friends. Even Marissa, his beautiful, genuine Marissa, has proven herself wrong. She doesn't care. Nobody cares.
She's saying something, her eyes on the gun in his hand. Oliver doesn't want to listen, just like he doesn't want to listen to the men pounding at the suite doors. It's all just noise, anyway. Nonsensical sounds, proof that the universe hates him. Everybody hates him, and he'll show them. He will. When he's gone, they'll care.
Marissa is sobbing now, reaching out, trying to take the gun from him. She can't do that. She can't. Her face twists and snot runs out of her finely-drawn nose and Oliver realizes she's not really beautiful. No, her inner soul is dark with selfishness and misery. She doesn't deserve to feel sad for him.
Oliver lifts the gun, pulls her close, deaf to her weeping and pleas. She tries to struggle, but she's too weak. The boom of the gun overrides the other noise, and she falls, her face gone. Now they'll see how ugly she really is.
He raises the gun again, to his temple, and smiles.
3. Trojan Horse
Alex's friends Kyle and Steve flank her as she stalks toward the Harbor School bonfire, reassuring backup. Not that any of these pampered kids could stop her.
The giant horse isn't burning yet. It will soon enough. Alex is taking Ryan down.
Marissa darts up, tries to talk Alex out of this, but Alex saw her, saw Ryan and Marissa hugging and staring into each other's eyes. Alex can't stand cheaters. And Marissa wouldn't have done anything if Ryan hadn't started lurking around, tempting her with his bad-boy image.
Alex'll show Marissa that tough isn't limited to guys with their pricks and balls. As if she hadn't known that anyway, from the way Alex made Marissa come with fingers and tongue alone. Marissa had told Alex no boy had ever made her feel so good.
Ryan walks up, tries to push his weight around, the sanctimonious bastard. Alex goes for his throat. It's thick under her hands, sweaty, and his jaw feels rough with beard stubble. Marissa shrieks, the students murmur and gather round as Alex and Ryan tussle. Kyle and Steve hold off friends who try to get between them.
Ryan's stronger than her, not hesitating to take her on after their confrontation the other night, but Alex fights dirty. Who cares about a punch to the ribs when she can knee him in the balls? Ryan falls and Alex starts to kick him but Marissa intercedes.
"Alex! This is crazy! Stop it!" Marissa grabs Alex's shoulders, shakes her. "What are you doing?"
Alex looks into Marissa's face and realizes that they'll never work. They're too different, and Marissa's princess self won't mesh with Alex's life. But Alex can't let Ryan think she's backing down. She must have only gotten a glancing blow in, because he's gotten to his feet again and is trying to move Marissa aside.
Alex yells - she hates him so much - and swings as hard as she can, trying to smash his handsome face into pulp. She hits Marissa instead.
It was an accident. It was. Alex would never hurt Marissa. She stepped into the punch. She did.
Time freezes and Alex wants to take it back. She pulls her hand toward her side, but Marissa has fallen, twisted and crumpled. Alex drops to her knees. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry."
Ryan is there, on Marissa's other side, reaching out for her shoulder. She's lying so still. Alex's hands start to tremble and she brushes Marissa's hair back from her face. Marissa's eyes are open, unblinking.
"Marissa?" Ryan's voice shakes.
Alex traces the line of Marissa's jaw, down her neck. Such soft skin. "Marissa?" Alex calls, but there's no answer.
Ryan pulls back on Marissa's shoulder, and she collapses flat onto the sand. Alex starts to sob. She can see the rock now, too big for this beach, sharp edges pointing upward and tinged crimson. There's a matching impression in Marissa's temple.
The watching students fall silent. Alex can't stop crying.
Ryan shakes Marissa, Summer kneels next to her with an open mouth and shocked eyes.
Alex never hears a clock tick again.
4. Birthday Presents
Trey returns to the party feeling loose and satisfied. That blonde was just what he needed to erase the stench of prison from his body. And her skin was so soft. Trey smirks at the thought of her mouth, so dirty in comparison to her sweet looks. Oh yeah.
He wanders through the throng of strangers, searching for other opportunities. Marissa finds him first, smiles at him with a blank expression on her face. She looks like a doll instead of a real girl.
"What do you think of your party?" she asks, a little bit rueful at how out of control it is.
Trey could have done with fewer people, but when it was just little brother Ryan and his three friends it felt like a wake. And there was the blonde to consider.
"It's nice," Trey says and moves closer to her. "How about a drink?" he asks.
"Sure." She moves off to the bar the crashers set up.
Trey relishes the bite of the 7&7 going down his throat. Another thing he'd missed while he was in jail.
He lets the atmosphere wash over him, watches the rich kids go at it. They are wild and make Chino look like a sandbox for toddlers. Pills are popped, intriguing substances sniffed, and Trey thinks he sees someone slipping something into girls' drinks. Not his problem.
Marissa lingers at his side, chatting about things Ryan has done here, trouble he's gotten into, all the while sipping at something fruity mixed with vodka. Sounds like little brother hasn't changed all that much.
The 7&7 slips down smoothly now and the lamps have blurred. Trey's head lightens until it's floating, and he staggers when he tries to move.
"I think," he tells Marissa, "I'm going to sit down."
She smiles at him and gives a little wave, then picks up her cup again.
Trey falls into a pleasant haze, and listens to the music.
He's jolted awake by a scream. Then a chorus of screams. Girls are so dumb.
He goes to look at whatever is making them panic - probably a snake or something.
A girl floats facedown in the pool, hair haloed around her head. Trey winces, because all he needs is for his parole officer to discover he's been at a party like this. Time to go.
Ryan pounds on Trey's door at dawn. Trey's head doesn't need any encouragement to ache, and he's not exactly friendly as he confronts Ryan's clenched jaw. Typical little brother drama.
"What?" Trey growls.
Ryan's eyes are red and his hands are curled into fists. "I thought you'd want to know," Ryan says. His voice is raspy and hoarse. "Marissa was in that pool. I saw you leave."
Trey just wants this scolding over with. Ryan never could let things go.
"Not good for my parole," Trey says. He hopped the wall and walked home, head still spinning.
"Yeah," Ryan says. "It wasn't good for Marissa either. She died." Ryan looks away then, and Trey's never seen him like this, not even when Dad got sent away for hard time.
"Dude." Trey can't grasp what happened. "What?"
"We tried CPR," Ryan continues, then shakes his head. He's lost, Trey can tell, so he pulls Ryan inside and sits him down on the floor, one arm slung over Ryan's shoulders.
"She was fine," Trey says. "Last time I saw her."
Ryan's head tips back against the wall. "They don't know what happened. But the cops found drugs everywhere."
"Not mine," Trey denies immediately. But he saw them all over the place. Oh fuck. Somebody probably put something in her drink. Can't let little brother know. "Are you okay?" Trey asks.
Ryan's eyes burn when he turns toward Trey. "No."
5. Surfing USA
"You have to come help!" is the first thing Kaitlin says when Marissa picks up the phone. Johnny is climbing the rock face at the back of the beach, and he's drunk way too much tequila.
"Help with what?" Marissa says and she sounds like she's been crying.
"With Johnny. Marissa, please, we're at the beach." Kaitlin is whining and she knows it, but she doesn't care. This is too freaky.
"Johnny." Marissa's tone indicates she doesn't care. "Great. Ryan won't talk to me because of him, and now you're telling me he needs help. Haven't I helped him enough?"
"Marissa, I'm scared. He could really hurt himself." Tears leak down her cheeks and God, Kaitlin thought she could handle anything but she was wrong.
Marissa sighs on the other end of the line, so put-upon, but she says, "Okay, I'll be there."
"Hurry," Kaitlin pleads and stands, terrified, while Johnny raves more and more about the duplicity of her sister. Kaitlin knew Marissa brought all the boys to the yard, but she didn't realize how obsessed they could get.
"She acted like I meant something to her," Johnny yells.
"You do mean something to her," Kaitlin responds, more than a little bit desperate. "She'll be here in just a few minutes. Why don't you come down here and wait for her?"
He keeps climbing. "All I ever wanted was to surf," he says and waves a hand at the ocean to emphasize the point. Kaitlin barely holds in a scream.
It seems like forever until Marissa shows up, time slowed to ice, not melted by the heat from the bonfire.
Kaitlin wanted to make a place for herself here. Why should Marissa be crowned Princess of Newport? What had she done that's so special? Kaitlin's exiled to boarding school after her parents divorce while older sis goes crazy and gets all the glory.
Maybe it wasn't glory at all.
Kaitlin's chanting please, please, please under her breath when Marissa arrives, trying to keep Johnny from falling by sheer force of will.
"Oh my God," Marissa says. Flames from the bonfire reflect in her eyes when she turns to Kaitlin. "I don't want to startle him. What do I do?"
"How should I know?" Kaitlin says. "He's your friend. He loves you." Marissa would be hopeless at this. Of course she would.
Marissa looks up at Johnny, distant now, a spider with only a thin strand of silk preventing disaster. "Here goes," she mutters, then calls, "Johnny? Why don't you come down here and we can talk?"
He stills and his face gleams in the starlight when he looks over his shoulder. "Why don't you come up here?" Then he heaves his body over the top of the rock and Kaitlin feels a rush as tension dissolves. Oh thank God. He's safe and now they just have to coax him back down.
A sudden chill hits Kaitlin's arm and she realizes Marissa is walking toward the rock face. "Marissa! What are you doing?" Kaitlin plucks at her shoulder, but Marissa keeps going.
She kicks her shoes into the sand and shakes Kaitlin's hands off.
"Marissa!"
"Look, Kaitlin," Marissa says. "Johnny and I need to settle things between us." She turns and that model-perfect smile adorns her face. "I'll be fine. Go wait by the bonfire."
Kaitlin wants to object more, but it's not like Marissa's ever listened to her. So she retreats to the fire, kneels down and pokes at the coals with a spare branch of driftwood. Sparks flare and flames dance, reaching for the stars. Kaitlin can't look, not while Marissa climbs.
Voices float from above, and when Kaitlin turns she can see Marissa and Johnny standing facing each other. She made it to the top. They look intense, and Kaitlin wishes she could hear their words, but they're a blur. The pounding surf overrides their conversation. Johnny reaches out a hand to Marissa, who takes it, then he jerks her into his arms, kisses her. Marissa struggles, trying to free herself, and they're too close to the edge.
Kaitlin rises to her feet, digs for her cell phone again. Who can she call now? Somebody needs to stop this.
The bodies on the top of the rock have melded into one mutated form, all arms and legs and motion. Kaitlin can make out Marissa's voice now. "Let go!" she cries and pushes against Johnny. He stumbles back, and for the length of one indrawn breath, Kaitlin thinks it'll be okay. Johnny will catch his balance and he'll be shaken enough to listen to reason.
That doesn't happen. Kaitlin watches, motionless, appalled, as Johnny grabs at Marissa, pulls her toward him.
And then they fall, two bodies connected by emotions Kaitlin can't even name.
Marissa's scream splits the air in unison with Kaitlin's, then cuts off with a sickening thump.
Kaitlin stumbles backwards, each thudding step a whispered reflection, until her feet are wet by the on-rushing surf. She doesn't look at her cell phone as she hits the speed dial and brings it up to her ear. Her eyes can't leave the crumpled heap at the base of the rock.
One ring. Two. Three. Please.
A click when the other line answers and Kaitlin says, "Mommy?"
Her mommy will make everything better.
- end -
Notes: I've had the idea for this story since the first season, but it seemed too mean-spirited. Maybe it still is, but I had to write it now. (Three first season alternative deaths: In TJ, by overdose. Drunk driving her car off a cliff, after Ryan is too late to stop her leaving the Christmas party. Drinking angstily in Caleb's mansion after he marries Julie. Marissa falls off her balcony and into the pool and drowns.) My thanks to maudgonne for the beta.
Also! After I wrote this, I was researching UC-Irvine for a ficlet, and they have mountain lions on their campus! Not five miles from Newport! I wrote it as a joke, kind of, but sometimes the world really is stranger than fiction.
Disclaimer: Schwartz owns this, not me.
Feedback eases Ryan's guilt. Don't you want that?