The O.C: Reborn

Chapter 1

Who are you? Whoever you want me to be. The words of that conversation rung in Ryan Atwood's ears as he continued to punch the living crap out of the punching bag in front of him. Pull over! Flashes of the car accident flooded through his brain and his heart sank into his stomach. Images Marissa's blood, and her body laying limp in his arms ran through his head. He continued to punch the bag until his knuckles were sore, bruised and practically bleeding. But it didn't matter, he didn't really give a rat's ass about himself anymore not after what happened. Not after he lost control of that god damn car and let the love of his life die in his arms, and you wanna know the worst part? He didn't even realize that he was still in love with her until after she was already dead. They had been through so much over the years and they just gave up on a love so special,chaotic, consumming, passionate and beautiful it was tragic. But what did it matter now? Marissa Cooper was dead and it was his fault, somewhat. Most of the blame should be put on Kevin Volchok's shoulders, he was the ass who forced the car off the edge. But he'd been AWOL ever since that horrific night 4 months ago. Ryan had been searching like hell to find him, to no advantage he had dissapeared. But if he ever got his hands on that little punk, he would choke the living life out of him, or maybe he'd make him suffer, kill him slowly. These were the only things Ryan thought about now. He didn't care about school, friends, family, money, or himself anymore he just wanted Marissa back in his arms and Volchok lying dead in an ocean somewhere. Maybe then he could return to the Ryan Atwood that he along with the Cohens, and Marissa had spent 3 years creating. If it weren't for her, who knows where the hell he'd be. She gave him a chance when nobody else would, helped tame the violent side of him and taught him how to love. And the Cohens, they would always be his family, after everything they did for him, he owe'd them the world and more but he couldn't put them through the pain he was going through day in and day out so he moved out and stayed living out of his little room in back of The Bait. His best friends, Seth and Summer tried to reach out to him, but he couldn't deal with them or anyone, not now or maybe never again. Once he was done taking his anger out on the punching bag, he took a seat on his bed, wiping the beads of sweat off his forehead. It was 9:45 at night and he had to get going soon. New information on Volchok had come up and he had to meet the guy to get the details at 10:30 behind some mall in Newport. He didn't bother taking a shower but instead threw on a black hoodie over his white beater and walked out the room. He walked through his old hangout spot and felt emptiness. A couple of months ago Marissa was alive and healthy, he had been getting ready to go off to college, Seth and Summer were a happy couple and everything was just peachy, graduation was coming up and they had no worries. It's funny how quickly things change. Once Ryan stuck the keys in the ignition, he blasted the stereo to fill the silence. He knew he was acting ridiculous, phsycotic even, but he always was when it came to Marissa. He would do anything for her, even in death. He was speeding down the road, he wanted to get there as quick as possible. It didn't take long to get there, the place wasn't too far away. Before he made his way to the alley Ryan made sure to grab the gun he had been keeping underneath the car seat, just in case things got dangerous. The guy was already there, sitting down on what looked like an old tv. As he got closer Ryan could see that the man was wearing a suit. What the hell? He wasn't expecting that, he expected the guy to be covered in tatoos, smoking a cigarette, wearing a muscle tee or wife beater. It all made sense once the man turned around to face him.

"Hey Ryan." Sandy Cohen said, standing up and facing Ryan. Was this some kind of joke? Sandy had information on Volchok? Fat chance.

"Sandy, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked

"What? Your not the only one who like late night strolls through dark hidden alleys." he said smiling. It was good to see that it was the same old Sandy, nothing really changed about him.