What Becomes Of The Broken-Hearted?

Chapter 1. A Vacation From Pain, Or Not

Author: j_rock873

Rating: R

Summary: This is a sequel to Playing The Game. It's also another challenge sent out by Shyechick. This contains a crossover with the O.C.. Marissa is still alive in this story. Several characters from both shows will appear, but the main focus is on Jessie, Marissa, and Alex.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story.

Reviews: Yes, I want them.

Author's notes: As always, words in italics are personal thoughts while words in all capital letters required special emphasis. I'm going by the timelines I checked out on IMDB. Jessie was around fifteen when the show ended in 2002. Marissa was around seventeen or eighteen when she left in 2006. This will take place about three years after Marisa left the OC. Marissa will be around twenty-one while Jessie will be around twenty-two.

Jessie's bedroom

Jessie sat on her bed while going through a box that held memories of Katie:

several pictures, notes passed between each other during high school, a few love letters sent while Katie was in college, Katie's class ring, and the lesbian themed, joke t-shirts bought by Grace the day after the famous kiss in front of the school, Jessie's - I'm straight, but my girlfriend isn't; Katie's – No need to drive stick.

This brought tears to her eyes. It was at that point that Jessie knew she never wanted to be with anyone else. Since she was listening to Billie Holiday, she didn't notice the sound of Grace coming upstairs to let her know dinner was ready. As soon as she saw what Jessie was doing, she tip-toed down the stairs before entering the dining room.

"Grace, where's Jessie? Didn't you tell her dinner was ready?" Rick and Lily asked with curiosity.

"I was going to, but…"

"But?"

"She was doing IT again."

This brought on a sad look that was shared by everyone. The "it" that Grace mentioned became known as the "mourning time over Katie's death". It would happen once a month and last for at least a half hour. Within four months after Katie's death, she became cold and uncaring to anyone who wasn't family.

"Damn it," Rick mumbled as Lily tried to calm him down.

"Is Jessie ever going to get over her?" Zoe began to sob. "We all loved Katie, but it's been three years."

"Zoe, give her a break already. She was Jessie's first love. Some people never get over things like that. Be glad she didn't snap and do something bad to herself," Grace said with a sigh.

"I'm SORRY, I'm such a burden to everyone," Jessie snarled with tears on her cheeks before glaring at Zoe.

Eli raced over to his sister and gave her a hug as he spoke, "Jessie, you're not a burden. We just worry about you sometimes. That's what you do for someone you care about."

"I know, Eli. Is it ever going to completely stop hurting?"

"Jessie," Lily interrupted, "things like this never stop hurting completely, but the pain will hurt less as time goes by."

Jessie returned with a smirk, "Thanks, doctor."

This got everyone to start laughing. After dinner, Grace and Jessie were back in Jessie's bedroom.

Jessie's bedroom

"I'm glad you helped convince me to go on this vacation, Grace."

"So am I. What was the final thing that made the decision for you?"

"Actually, it was Katie."

"Katie? How did she help?"

"She always wanted to go to Hawaii with me. I figured she would be happy that at least one of us went there."

"True. I'm sorry, but I need to ask a question that I haven't asked before."

"What is it?"

Jessie wasn't sure if she was ready, but decided she would answer it anyway.

"Do you think it was better that you weren't there when she died, or would you have wanted to have been there?"

Jessie admitted with a thoughtful expression, "I wonder about that sometimes. Well, pretty much every time I mourn. I would have liked to hear her say it instead of being told from her friend that it was the last thing she said before she died. Although, I don't know if I could have handled watching her die in my arms."

On that fateful night, Katie and her friend had gotten into a bar with fake ids and a kiss between each other that satisfied the bouncer standing at the door. During the walk up to the bartender, she had gotten caught between two guys that had begun fighting. One had pulled a knife that was somehow missed by the bouncer. Before she knew it, Katie had been stabbed in the stomach. Everyone watched in horror as her friend momentarily went numb before trying whatever she could do to get Katie to hold on until the ambulance got there. The ambulance had gotten there in about three minutes, but it was still too late. The last thing everyone heard was, "Tell Jessie that I love her, and I always will."

"I know why I'm going, Grace, but why are you coming?"

"To make sure you have fun, but not too much fun," Grace stated as she nudged Jessie with an elbow.

"What does Tad think about that? Isn't he worried somebody is going to try hitting on you as well?"

"Uh, we kind of had a falling out, and we're taking a little break away from each other."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's ok. I'm sure it's just temporary. Maybe the time apart will help rid him of what's left of his sexist thoughts toward women," Grace finished with a smirk.

O'Hare airport, next day, 9:00 AM

Everyone went to see the two girls off on their one week vacation before Jessie started a summer internship at a hospital in Maui.

"Are you sure you have everything, Jessie?"

"Yes, Mom," Jessie confirmed with obvious aggravation at still being treated like a kid.

She suddenly had an idea to get even with her. She whispered the idea to Grace, who furiously shook her head no, but she did it anyway. Jessie acted like she had a list in her hand that she was checking it off with a pen.

"Enough clothes, check; sunglasses, check; suntan lotion, check; personal items, check; skimpy bikini, check; scented body oil, check; condoms if I see a hot guy, check. Wait, I don't need those. Do you want them, Grace?"

"No," Grace muttered after finding little humor in Jessie's words.

"That's not funny, Jessica," Karen declared angrily.

"Well, quit treating me like a kid."

Maui, Five and a half hours later

Jessie and Grace arrived at their hotel along the beach. Jessie smiled as she entered their hotel room. It was a decent sized room with two double beds and a dual sink bathroom. It also had a balcony overlooking the beach. The girls decided that since it was still early there that they would sleep off their jet lag. Two hours later, Grace awoke to see Jessie taking a view from the balcony. She walked up to see a smile on Jessie's face.

"It's a beautiful view, don't you think, Jessie?"

"Yes, the beach isn't bad either."

She smiled as she glanced back up at Grace.

Grace, who was wondering what Jessie was almost drooling over, observed the balcony below with Jessie and saw two girls lying topless on a few towels. A blonde was lying on her stomach while a brunette had just rolled onto her back. Jessie blushed when the brunette looked up and smiled at her with a raised eyebrow. She then leaned over to the girl beside her and adjusted the bikini bottom until most of the girl's butt was showing. This had got the attention of the blonde who had apparently been asleep. She stared at the brunette before removing her sunglasses. The first girl then nodded in Jessie's direction. When the second girl saw Jessie, she did the same thing her friend did and blew her a kiss before lying back down.

"It looks like they like you, Jessie."

"Yeah, right. They were probably just doing that to drive me crazy."

"Well, let's find out," Grace suggested before shouting at the girls, "Hey, my sister wants to know if either one of you is single."

"Grace," Jessie hissed, "don't ask them that."

She looked away from them.

"No, she's my girlfriend," the brunette revealed she pointed to the blonde. "If I was though, I'd invite your sister down here because she's a hottie."

Jessie quickly turned around to ask, "Really?"

"Definitely."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Well, we've got to go. Take care."

Jessie then began to walk back into the room.

"You too. If things change, I'll know where to find you," she babbled softly as her girlfriend, who had also turned onto back, playfully slapped her on the arm.

"Jessie, do you know the best thing about this trip is so far was, except for those two girls?"

"No, what?"

"We've already gotten leid," Grace giggled.

"Are you going to make jokes like that all week?" Jessie groaned.

"Possibly."

"Then I better think of some too."

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"Let's go down to the beach," Jessie decided as she grabbed a bikini and headed to the bathroom to change

Fifteen minutes later

The girls had reached the beach and found a nice spot to lie down on.

"How about here, Grace?"

Jessie pointed to an open spot.

"Looks good, Jessie. You can get a look at almost everyone here."

"Yeah," she sighed happily.

Jessie started straightening out the towels on the sand as Grace removed the t-shirt and shorts she had on over her bikini. When Grace sat down, Jessie got up and removed her shirt and shorts. Grace was a little shocked when she got a look at the one Jessie had chosen that day.

"Jessie, you weren't kidding earlier when you said a skimpy bikini, huh? I thought you were kidding when you mentioned the last three things. You know you're attractive enough without having to wear something like that."

"Yeah, but I thought I'd get a little daring on this vacation since we're the only ones here. Look at all of the attention we're getting so far."

"You mean the attention YOU'RE getting," Grace smirked as she began pointing out the guys and girls who were ogling her sister, "Of course, some aren't too bad either."

Grace started pointing out girls she thought Jessie would like and would occasionally comment on certain features. Jessie began laughing at what Grace was doing and had the opportunity to make a few jokes of her own.

"Grace, are you switching teams now?"

"No, why?"

"Because you seem to be enjoying saying those things about the girls around us. It's like you're one step away from saying, 'Hey, babe, you got some fries to go with that shake?' This is kind of ironic since you got Tad to stop saying things like that."

"I was just helping you by pointing out those girls. I wouldn't do that for anyone else. I'm happy the way I am."

"That's too bad."

"Why do you say that?"

Grace gazed at her with an arched eyebrow. Jessie then used a few fingers to symbolize quotation marks to get the response she was hoping for.

"Because I was looking forward to teaching you 'the secret handshake' we teach each new member of the club."

Jessie then broke down into hysterics on her towel. Grace smacked her on the back with an extra towel. This had gotten the attention of a girl, with sandy blonde hair, as she was making her way out of the water. The girl then started moving toward them. Jessie didn't notice because she had her attention set on a different blonde to the left of her. However, Grace did. As soon as she got a good look, she became a little uneasy and stood in front of Jessie. This got Jessie's attention, and she began to stand up.

"Grace, what are you doing?"

"Don't look behind me. Look away. Please!"

"Why, did you find a girl you're interested in?" Jessie answered with a giggle.

"No, just promise me you won't look," Grace almost begged her.

"Why? What could be so bad that you don't want me to…"

Jessie got a good peek at the girl and fainted.

"Are you ok?" a mysterious voice questioned with worry.

"I think so," Jessie mumbled as she opened her eyes. It can't be, can it?

"Are you sure? You're looking at me a little weird. Maybe you got too much sun or need something to drink?"

"Maybe," Jessie mumbled again.

"Here you go," the girl offered with a smile as she handed Jessie a bottle of water, "Oh, by the way, my name's Marissa Cooper. What's yours?"