Note: Hi all! I'm honestly so surprised with the reviews I got, I completely figured I wouldn't get any because of the odd combi and it makes me so excited, haha! I've been ill for a couple of days now so I barely had time to write, but this one was almost finished so I decided to give it to y'all 'cause I wanted to show you how much I appreciate you lovely readers and reviewers! Awesome :) . Please enjoy! xx.

Chapter 1 – Welcome to the O.C, bitch!

"You noticed the car on the driveway of Jimmy's old place?" Kirsten Cohen handed her husband a cup of coffee while they both sat down at their kitchen table. The blonde woman had just returned from doing the groceries, and had been surprised to see a car on their neighbor's driveway. It had been the old house of Julie Cooper –now Nichol,- and Jimmy Cooper, her old boyfriend and one of her best friends. Her husband, an attractive, dark-haired, blue-eyed man sat down next to her and said: "Yeah, I did. I wonder what kind of people are moving in… As long as she ain't a Newpsie I'm sure I'll survive."

Sandy Cohen knew the look his wife gave him. She usually gave him that look when he said something bad about Kirsten's female friends in Newport, to whom he usually referred as Newpsies. Sandy wasn't a big fan of most people that were living in Newport. Most of them were snobs. Sandy grew up in an environment that was far from the ideal life he now seemed to live in Newport, though that life was far from ideal as well. But he had Kirsten. He had his son, Seth. And he had Ryan, who felt as a son to him a Kirsten as well. Sandy and Kirsten were Ryan's legal guardians and when Sandy had met Ryan, he'd seen himself. Ryan was a poor, homeless guy who hung out with the wrong crowd and had an alcoholic mother. Sandy's thoughts were wandering off to Ryan, but Kirsten was still glaring at him, not appreciating his comment about her friends.

Kirsten felt Sandy's hand around her waist and then felt his lips on her forehead before he said: "I'm sorry honey, I couldn't help myself."

"I know you can't." Kirsten couldn't help but smile. She knew Sandy hated the stereotype Newport Beach woman. And to be honest, Kirsten herself would enjoy to have neighbors that weren't like everyone else in town. "Maybe we should go over, introduce ourselves."

"Let's do that this afternoon. I have to go to the office to take care of some things, but I'll be home before five."

Kirsten nodded, and saw Sandy drink his coffee in a couple of big gulps before he kissed her lightly on her lips and walked away. Kirsten looked after her handsome husband, knowing his promise of being home before five was one he made every day. Lately, that promise had started to mean nothing. Coming home around eight was becoming more of a standard lately.

"So, this is it, huh?" Lou looked at Catherine before he looked around the huge house again, admiring every detail of the beautiful mansion. He knew Catherine was looking at the interior the same way. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah… Nothing like my house back in Vegas though." They both chuckled as they looked around. "Cath.. You wanna go see the beach?" "Love to. We can get some groceries as well, the fridge is far from filled." They chuckled and Catherine grabbed her purse before they left the huge mansion that was now theirs. On their way out, they almost ran into two guys, standing in front of the house next to them. Catherine smiled at them as Lou greeted them, and when Lou was sure the guys couldn't hear him anymore he said: "They were so checking you out, unbelievable."

Catherine chuckled. "Am I that awful to look at?"

Lou's cheeks turned into a bright red as he said: "No… No, I didn't mean that at all. I'm sorry. It's just that…. You know, their, like… Eighteen."

Catherine's chuckles had now turned into pure laughter as she answered: "It's okay Lou, I was just kidding. But you're kinda cute when you're embarrassed."

"Dude, did you see her?" Seventeen year old Seth Cohen nudged his friend Ryan Atwood as they both stared at the woman that had just passed them. "Yeah… New neighbors." "I wasn't talking about that.. She was hot. We have a hot neighbor." Ryan raised his eyebrow as he heard Seth utter those words.

"Come on. We should go, we're going to be late otherwise."

Lou and Catherine walked along the beach barefooted, shivering every now and then when the water touched their feet. "So nice to smell the ocean again… It's been years."

"I'm embarrassed to say I've never known what that's like. Well, on this side then. I've been on the east coast before, never here though. Silly, isn't it, when you're living in Las Vegas?"

Catherine shrugged. "Time flies… You just don't always get to do everything you want, right? But look on the bright side; you're here now."

Lou smiled at the radiant redhead in front of him, who was obviously loving the beach and thrilled to be there. She was such a beautiful woman and it honestly surprised him how easy she was to talk to. She had the entire package, was everything a man could dream of. He didn't have any more time to think about her as he heard her talk again.

"I wonder what Caleb Nichol's like… According to everything in our database, he's rich as hell.. Why would he kill that guy, it doesn't make any sense."

Their eyes met for a brief moment and Lou felt an electric shock in his stomach when he met her blue eyes. "I honestly don't know… But, so far, this town seems small… And I'm sure there's a lot of gossip going on here. We'll.. We'll just have to mingle, act our best."

A small chuckle escaped from Catherine's lips. "That will be fun. I hope… As long as those women here are not as snobby as I think they'll be, I'll be good."

Forty five minutes later, the couple was back in their house again, knowing they had to start unpacking the very few true personal belongings they had brought. As they moved their stuff from the boxes to their closets and finally went up to the bedroom, Lou spotted a first problem. "Cath? Hey, Cath?" "What?" Holding a box that was obviously a bit too heavy for her, Catherine came stumbling into the bedroom. Lou quickly rushed over to take over the box, earning him a thankful smile from Catherine as she said: "Thanks. That was heavy. So, what's up?"

Lou carefully put the box down as he said: "Well, since we're supposed to be married… There's only a double bed. I haven't seen another bed in this entire house yet, which seems odd since this house is huge but, well, yeah… I… I'll sleep on the couch I guess, I don't want to make this more uncomfortable then it already is."

"No, don't be stupid Lou. We can share the bed just fine." Catherine looked at the detective in front of her, who seemed slightly nervous. It made her smile a little bit on the inside. She was quite keen on the detective; she'd always been. In the beginning because he was just more than a little handsome, and after spending a day with him, she'd already started to like his character as well. "There's no way I'm going to let you sleep on the couch, it will kill your back!"

"Hey!" Lou playfully hit her shoulder as he said: "I'm a young God, Catherine Willows. My back can handle a couch just fine."

"Okay, well, still, I think you should stay in bed. We can build a wall of pillows if you insist. We'll talk about it later though, come, we should unpack the rest and get some groceries!"

He looked after her with a smile. Flirting with her was so easy, it seemed natural. And Lou had a feeling that idea was mutual.

It was almost six in the afternoon when Catherine realized they still hadn't gone over to buy some food. Lou insisted on ordering something, and as Catherine was about to argue that the doorbell rang. "Someone told you they were coming, Lou?"

"No."

He followed Catherine to the door as she opened it, surprised to find a pretty blonde in front of it. Not too tall, slim, beautiful eyes and gorgeous skin. Perhaps a little older then herself, Catherine thought. Or at least she secretly hoped. "Hi." Lou's head popped up next to Catherine and he also smiled to the lovely woman in front of him. "Hi. I'm sorry to just ring the doorbell like that, I just noticed you moving in together. I live next door, just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Kirsten Cohen."