Yeah, *something* happened, though accounts vary as to what.

I think its obvious, if you watch the progression of the show through the seasons (or, if you look at behind-the-scenes pictures, like the one I made this icon from) that something was going on, however much or little it was acknowledged at the time.

Of course, these days Stacy has transformed into Fergie and is married to someone else (and I have no idea about Ryan), but back then? According to the internet, he was pretty much her first boyfriend.

What's more amazing to me, among the remnants of fandom, is how much support this particular ship got. There is a huge swath of us who were first and foremost Ryan fangirls, and I find it terribly amusing how many of us wanted (and want!) him to be with Stacy, above any other character on the show. (Considering my experience with my other favorite fandom character, Sesshoumaru, this is surprisingly refreshing.) Even people who weren't/aren't aware of or don't care about the real life stuff shipped these two.

So, yeah. My little fangirl heart melts into puddles on a regular basis with these two <3