Alright here's the next chapter. Promise the next one is longer. Don't worry about that. Thank you to the amount of people reviewing for this story, your comments only can make my writing better and motivate me into writing more, and faster for you guys.

Disclaimer: No ownage of the OC

REVIEWERS:

malex4everluvd: Not everyone's homophobic, just the popular crowd mostly, which is who we've mostly seen to interact with Alex so far.

bmq1689- Yep, Alex has a conscience and Aw, thanks.

"D"-Thank you.

BreakYourHeart: You kept calling her Melissa instead of Marissa. Oooops? I don't necessarily think Ryan is a jerk, he's just stuck in the same predicament that Marissa is.

NeedNoName: Wow. This has got to be the most indepth review I've gotten in the months that I've bee writing. Thanks so much. And I do tend to do the "I" thing, usually it's to express Alex's conflicting interests or how she's feeling at the moment, but true, in narration it's a bit monotonous at times. I'll work on it.

READ, REVIEWWW, and ENNJOY!

At the Kelly Residence

Alex's POV

Marissa's passed out in my car as I drive to my house. God she hasn't been in my house for years. I pull into the driveway and see no cars in sight. Obviously the parents aren't here again. Some stupid business conference. I unbuckle her seatbelt and lift her into a fireman's carry. The door unlocks with limited difficultly. Opening it and then locking it closed behind me. I throw my keys onto the table in the foyer. Now comes the hard part. Stairs. Glad I'm strong from lifting crates of beer and glasses and going to the gym or this would be a lot more difficult. I eventually get up the stairs and am panting a little. She's kind of heavy. Just because she's so darn tall, it's a little awkward. I make it to my room and lay her on my bed.

"Jeez, Alex, you're pretty strong huh…" She smiles at me, seemlingly sobered up a bit. She does have a high tolerance after all, lots and lots of practice..probably slept it off.

I smile a bit hearing my first name from her in a way that reminds me of our younger days, "How long have you been awake?"

"Since you slammed your front door shut and locked it…" She giggles, rolling over.

"Seriously? You made me carry you up all those stairs, when you were awake?" I flail my arms around.

She just shrugs and smiles, "Thank you?"

I huff, "Whatever."

"No, seriously Al…thank you. For everything back there…" She looks at me gratefully.

I shake my head, "You don't get to call me Al anymore, Marissa. You lost that a while ago." I get up from the bed. "Want something to change into? Or do you want me to take you home?" I turn to her and it almost looks like a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"I really don't want to be alone, Alex. Especially in that huge house. And yeah, I'd appreciate something to change into, thanks." She sits on the edge of the bed watching me disappear into my closet. I pull out some shorts and a t-shirt for her as well as some for me. I hand her them. All of a sudden she lifts her top over her head. I catch a glimpse of her pert breasts covered in a black lacey bra before I turn my head away. "Alex? Seriously, we were naked infront of each other since we were 5…no big deal." I shake my head.

"Just change." I say curtly as I walk away into the bathroom and change in there. I stare at my reflection in the mirror. "Pull yourself together, Kelly. She hurt you. She ditched you for new friends. She picks on you every single day. She makes fun of your friends. She toys with you. Don't fall for it." I whisper to my reflection. I groan and put my hands over my face. It's too difficult. I mean of course I wish we could be friends again, she was my best friend for several years. But that was when we were kids. She made her choice a long time ago. I just can't get hurt like that again. I cried for weeks. I thought I wasn't good enough for her. I thought something was wrong with me. God, she still makes me feel insecure around her. But she's being incredibly nice right now. But it also doesn't make up for the fact that she ditched me and Seth for some popular crowd. Fuck, this is frustrating. I take a deep breath and walk back out into my room. I see Marissa under the covered on one side of the bed…she remembered which side I sleep on? No, just a lucky guess. Stop thinking that she cares, Al.

I crawl into bed and under the covers. "Thanks again, Alex."

"No problem, Marissa. We were once friends. I haven't forgotten." I turn over away from her. She sighs and we both fall into silence. Wonder what the morning will bring…