Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. or any of its characters. Anything that you may recognize belongs to Josh Schwartz & FOX.

Ryan's POV

It's been a few years. I've been better, especially after Rick was arrested and put in jail. I felt a lot better. I didn't think Rick being locked up, especially after so long, would help, but it did. I guess he finally got what he deserved; the best part is he won't be practicing anymore.

I was wiping down the counter when Taylor came into the restaurant where I worked. She smiled at me as she sat down at the counter.

"I'll be off in twenty." I told her.

"I made you something. Just a little something for your birthday."

"Taylor, my birthday isn't for six months."

"Okay, half-birthday then." Taylor corrected herself and I chuckled. She could be so cute when she did that. I loved it. I loved everything about her. "I mean, if you don't want my peach torte…"

"No, it's okay. I'm sure I will love it as much as I would if it were my birthday." I assured her. I certainly didn't want her to get rid of it. I couldn't resist Taylor's tortes; her peach tortes were something special to us.

I finished my shift twenty minutes later and then I left with Taylor. We drove to her place and she brought out the torte along with two plates and a bottle of sparkling.

"Did you really think it was my birthday?" I asked, wondering. It wasn't like Taylor to get something like this wrong.

"No, actually it's our nine month anniversary, but I didn't want to seem like those crazy girls who celebrates every month they are in a relationship with a guy…" Taylor went on and I chuckled. She was so cute when she did that.

"But I guess this falls under the same category…" She adds.

"I'm not complaining." I replied and Taylor smiled. "And you are my crazy girl."

"And don't forget stalker." Taylor chuckles before I lean in and kiss her on the lips. She probably always would be and that was one of the many things I loved about Taylor; she is special.

"I will never forget that and how much I love your tortes." I stated.

Taylor cut the torte, putting a piece on my plate.

"Now I did a little different this time." Taylor comments as I took a small bite. I tried to figure out if there was anything different about this torte in comparison to the other—though it's not easy since I don't have the other to compare it to—but I couldn't figure it out. Was it the texture? Maybe it tasted different, but I wouldn't know. Either way, it still tasted really good.

"I love it even more." I said as I then took another bite. The third bite was when I bit something hard and I felt this sharp pain in the back of my mouth.

"Ryan? What's wrong?" Taylor asked concerned when I made a noise of obvious pain.

"Did you miss a pit?" I asked as I rubbed my jaw.

"No." Taylor shook her head. "But I did put pecans in this torte."

I looked at her. I guess that would be the hard thing I found. I guess that was also what was different about this torte as I knew she didn't put them in the last one.

"Why did you—?"

"I didn't do it last time because I wasn't sure if you were allergic to nuts. I thought about what if you were and you had an allergic reaction and had to go to hospital. I thought then you definitely wouldn't like the torte so I decided better be safe than sorry—"

"Taylor." I said, trying to get her to stop rambling for a minute.

"Sorry, I guess I should have told you." Taylor said.

"Well I guess I know what's different about this torte." I said before letting out a groan.

"Did you break a tooth?"

"I don't know—"

"We better go to a dentist." Taylor says, quickly, pulling me to my feet before I can even react to that. She definitely was quick on her feet.

"Taylor, wait." I said, not wanting to go there—at least not yet. Taylor stopped and looked at me.

"Right, you'll probably want an ice bag to help with the pain." Taylor goes off to get one before I could attempt to speak.

I sat down and sighed, holding my jaw as it ached. It hurt like a bitch. I guess I could use that ice bag. This just doesn't seem fair though. I let people beat the crap out of me for five months. I lost count of how many times I could punched in the face then, but I probably just broke a tooth on a friggin' pecan. It just doesn't seem fair.

"Here." Taylor says, handing me an ice pack. The cold actually helped with the aching.

"Thanks Taylor." I told her.

"I'm so sorry." Taylor said.

"It's not your fault, Taylor. It's just rotten luck, I guess." I told her. I could see that Taylor felt bad, like it was her fault. I didn't want her to feel guilty. She shouldn't. It's not like she intentionally did this to break my tooth or something.

"I guess I better not put pecans in the peach torte next time." Taylor laughed, attempting to lighten the situation.

"I like it better without." I said. And not just because of what happened.

"How bad does it hurt?" Taylor asks.

"I've had worse." I replied.

"Come on, I'll take you to the dentist." Taylor offers and I had to hide the discomfort that came with the thought of that.

"No, that's alright Taylor."

"Ryan, you really should go as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more chance you have of getting an infection." Taylor stated. How the hell did she know that?

"What are you? A dental student?"

"No, but I have broken a tooth before and they said I was lucky I didn't need a root canal." Taylor explained and I felt sick at hearing that. I didn't want to think about how that I might need that.

"Yeah, I've had one. Not fun." I commented, but those words felt like an understatement.

"So you should see one as soon as possible." Taylor says, pulling me to my feet. I wanted to protest, but I couldn't even get the words out.

I found myself in the car as Taylor drove to a dentist's office. I felt sick. I hated dentists and Taylor didn't even know the half of it. Why the hell did it have to happen to me? Why did I have to break my tooth? I tried to relax, but I couldn't, knowing where Taylor was taking me.

"Ryan." Taylor eventually spoke.

"Huh?" I was snapped from my thoughts.

"Are you okay?"

"Taylor, I just broke my tooth." I stated. I don't think anyone would really be okay after that.

"Right." Taylor nodded.

Eventually, Taylor turned around the corner and then parked the car in the parking lot of a dentist's office. I looked at the building. I didn't know anyone at this office. I didn't know how they would be. What if they were like Rick? I knew that might be me just thinking irrationally, but I couldn't know that for sure. Did Taylor even know if these people were good? What if something goes wrong? I felt really sick. Thinking about anything that could go wrong and I felt really sick. I couldn't stop myself from thinking the worse.

"Ryan." I looked up at Taylor. "

"I can't do this, Taylor."

I looked over at feeling Taylor put her hands over mine which were visibly shaking. Did she know? Well, I guess now it was obvious.

"Are you scared?" Taylor asked.

I nodded.

"Why?"

"It's a long story that I don't really want to talk about." I told her. I had only ever told Sandy and that was hard as hell. I didn't feel well enough at the moment to talk about what Rick did to me. It hurt like hell and every time I talked about it, I felt like I was reliving it.

"Ryan, it's okay." Taylor told me. "Come on."

"What?"

"You still should get checked out."

"Taylor—"

"I know you're scared, you don't have to tell me why, but I'm telling you it'll be okay. Look, you'll need to do this at some point, Ryan. And I think it would be better sooner rather than later." Taylor told me and I sighed.

She didn't understand how hard it was for me. She didn't understand that even though I knew that, I felt really sick to the point where I didn't care even if it was the rational decision.

"I can't." I said, sounding panicked in my voice.

"Ryan, breathe." Taylor said, taking hold of my hands again.

I looked at her and then shut my eyes, trying to take deep breaths. I squeezed her hands as I took deep breaths. Then when I calmed down enough, I opened them and looked at her.

"I can hold your hand and help anyway I can, but I think you should do this." Taylor stated.

I nodded. I guess, being an adult, I was going to be able to do this.

I got out of the car and approached the building slowly. We went inside and I sat down to wait while Taylor talked to the woman at reception. Taylor sat down next to me and handed me some papers to fill out. I did it slowly. I knew it was a delay tactic, in a way, but I wanted to keep my mind off it all as long as I possibly could. Eventually I finished and then a few minutes later, I was brought back to an exam room.

I felt sick. I guess Taylor noticed as I then felt her take my hand once again.

"You'll be fine, Ryan. I promise." Taylor attempts to reassure me as I sat down in the chair.

The dentist came in a few minutes later, "Hi Ryan, I'm Dr. Baker." He introduces himself and then sits down on the stool. I shook his hand. I knew my hand was both sweaty and shaky.

"Sorry, I'm a bit anxious."

"That's alright. I see it all the time." He replies. "I see you've got a support system."

"My girlfriend, Taylor." I replied him. "She's very persistent."

"So you have a broken tooth?"

"It might be broken. I'm not sure. It hurts like a bitch." I said with a nervous chuckle.

"I'll take a look and then we'll go from there." He tells me and I nodded.

"Relax Ryan, you're okay." Taylor tried to reassure me as she squeezed my hand. I shut my eyes, hoping it would help. It only did slightly as I felt the chair being reclined.

I opened my mouth when I was told to, holding on tightly to Taylor's hand. The dentist then told me that it cracked down the middle, with a chunk of my tooth missing. Though I was apparently luckily and I wasn't going to need a root canal. He'd just have to do a regular filling. Though it only put my slightly at ease.

"It won't be bad, Ryan." Taylor said. I guess I should look on the bright side that I won't need more than a filling.

"I know, but—"

"It's okay." Taylor assured me. I felt her kiss the back of my hand. "I wouldn't let anything happen to you. Just remember that and try to relax."

"I guess I'm lucky to have you." I commented.

Taylor got me through the procedure. It wasn't that bad, really. Though going through it physically, well I felt like hell. It was terrifying. But I was able to get through it. And I was relieved afterwards that I had as I knew it was better without my tooth hurting like hell.

I was just lucky to have my girlfriend to get me through it.

A/N: So this is the last chapter for this story. For a while, I was stuck on how continue this. And then it came to me. I had to do a chapter involving Taylor. So that's when this finally popped into my head and then eventually I got to writing it. I hope I wrote this alright. Anyways, I'd like to thank all of you that read and reviewed this story. I loved reading every single one of them. I'm glad you enjoyed this.

Please don't forget to review