Chapter 7- (Summer's Birthday) A Party, A Problem, And An Unspoken Promise
"Seriously, Coop..you have to invite him along." Summer stated as she finished pulling the pale green tank top over her head. "It's my party. And.." She looked behind her via the mirror and held her friend's eyes. "I want Ryan there."
Marissa shook her head and put down the magazine she'd been flipping through. "Sum, I can't. Ryan and I..together..in front of people.." She paused as if to consider it. "No. Not with Luke there too..no way Sum."
"Coop. Come on. You and Luke are over. Ryan and you is going strong. You have to invite him." Summer countered as she slipped into a pair of white shorts. "And if you don't….I will."
"Sum.." Marissa gave her friend a warning look. "No. Sandy and Kirsten don't know. And we haven't told Seth either…"
"Cohen doesn't know?" Summer stared back at her in surprise.
Marissa shrugged. "Well, he can't exactly keep a secret,Sum. Plus..he thinks me and Ryan is a horrible idea."
"Why? Just cause you guys are like brother and sister?" Summer inquired as she sat down on the bed beside Marissa.
"Pretty much." Marissa nodded.
"But it's not like you guys are really related..I mean.. you would never have even met if Ryan hadn't been one of Sandy's cases. Right? So.. You guys really aren't doing anything wrong.." Summer rambled on as if she was trying to convince herself more then convince her friend.
"I've been dreaming about this since fifth grade." Seth continued as he sat in the wicker chair beside what was now Ryan's bed.
Ryan tilted his head and stared at him. "You've been dreaming about Summer's sixteenth birthday since fifth grade?"
"No..that's weird. About actually being invited to her birthday party." Seth corrected him.
"Right.. Cause that's less weird.." Ryan answered, fastening his watch around his wrist.
"I still can't believe you aren't going." Seth shook his head.
"Marissa and me..close..dancing..drinking..It's just not a good idea." Ryan stood up and headed into the bathroom.
"Well, bye then, Man." Seth called out as he exited the pool-house well aware that Ryan probably couldn't hear him anyway.
A few hours had passed since her best friend had left demanding Ryan be present at her party. Sighing, Marissa looked up as her cell went off. After checking the display, and knowing the reason for the call, she answered. "Sum, I'm not kidding." Marissa nearly barked into the cell phone. "I can't invite him and I'm not going to."
"Alright. I'm on my way. Be there in like..five minutes." Summer flipped her cell phone shut and dropped it back into her purse. What was Coop thinking these days? Geeze.
"Seth.. Summer's gonna be here any minute, you should really be getting ready…" Ryan stopped dead in the doorway of the bathroom, towel around his neck and track pants on, when his gaze fell on the person now in the pool-house. He saw the tanned skin illuminated in the lamp light and smiled. "You're not Seth…"
Marissa smiled back. "Nope." She stood there in a thin dark green dress with a dangerously plunging neckline that stopped just short of her waist. The skirt of the dress barely covered her thighs and made her seem even taller than her usual tallness. "So.. I was thinking and.. I want you to come tonight."
Ryan did all he could not to stare in dumbfounded awe at the creature of beauty before him and walked over to her as he talked. "You sure? This could turn out bad.." He stood in front of her and took her hand in his raising it into the air, and sliding his other hand down her back.
"I know.." She caught her breath as he pulled her close to him. "Maybe I should change…"
Ryan cut her off with not-so-chaste kiss, pulling her closer still. He pulled back from the kiss long enough to answer her."No."
"Coop! You ready to…" Summer busted into the pool-house and looked the couple over with a grin of understanding. "I'll keep Seth in the car. Just get out here shortly."
Ryan waited for Summer to duck back out and then looked at Marissa. "We have to go."
Marissa nodded. "We do.." She stepped away from him reluctantly. "You'll get to meet Luke."
"Great.." Ryan held open the door for her.
"Yeah.." She answered quietly. "great.." She could imagine what she was walking into easily. Luke would be really angry when he saw her with another guy.
Luke Ward chugged down another plastic cup full of beer and checked his watch. 8pm. Where the hell was Marissa? He hadn't been able to find her all night and he really needed to talk to her. She wasn't by the kegs, or dancing. So where was she? He dropped the empty cup at his feet and started making his way across the room to the couch where Summer was sitting with some familiar looking curly haired boy.
Summer lounged back into the couch cushions and looked over at Seth. "You haven't made a single move all night, Cohen."
Seth nodded. "Well, I prefer to wait till you're sober so that I know you actually are into me and it's not your inebriated state that makes me irresistible."
Summer smiled, lifting up and turning toward him. "Make a move, Cohen."
Seth looked her over as he thought about what exactly to do. She wore a blue shirt and a nice white mini skirt and her hair had a little bit of a bounce to it. He moved his hand away from the back of the couch and ran his palm over her shoulder, leaning forward so he could kiss her. "Yes ma'am."
Summer felt his lips for about a millisecond before someone's hand was on her other shoulder and pulling her backward. "Hey!" She snapped at the person as she turned to face them. "Kinda busy here.."
Seth stared at the boy who had pulled Summer away from their kiss. Luke Ward. His number one enemy since..well..forever. "Luke.."
Luke looked from Summer to the other boy and laughed. "Cohen! You're all over Cohen! God Summer.. Drinking sure does impair your judgment. Where's Marissa?"
Summer shrugged. "I don't know. Probably avoiding you. And yes. I'm all over Cohen." Before either guy would say another word, she went back to the interrupted kiss.
Luke walked away, threading his way through the crowd of scantily clad women and their dance partners to get out to the deck. He headed out onto the sand, snatching a beer from a cooler near the steps. Where was Marissa?
"Glad you came?" Marissa asked as she laid back into the sand, her head tilted in Ryan's direction.
"Glad you brought me?" Ryan countered as he stroked her arm with his knuckles, while he laid on his side looking down at her.
"Mmm..very." She smiled and lifted her upper body up with her elbows. "I'll be right back."
"Where you going?" Ryan sat up at the same time she did.
"Get us some more beer." She answered, picking up the empty plastic cups they had discarded nearly an hour ago.
"Ok.." He nodded his acceptance and smiled when she kissed him quickly before walking off. She really was something else. Sexy. Sassy. Cute. Smart. And the way they connected..that was like nothing he'd ever imagined. There was just this..comfortability with Marissa Cooper that he'd never had with another girl.
"Marissa!" Luke might have been a little buzzed, but he knew what his girl looked like. He sprinted toward her retreating figure and grabbed her wrist. "Marissa.."
Marissa watched one of the plastic cups hit the sand and then looked up. "Let go, Luke."
"Where have you been all night?" He demanded, still holding her wrist.
"Avoiding you." She considered wrenching herself free but decided against it because of the bruise that was likely to appear from the struggle.
Luke still held her wrist. "Marissa, what's going on? I thought we could talk.."
"You thought wrong." Marissa answered coldly. "There is no us, Luke. It's over."
"Babe.." He pulled her closer.
Ryan stood in the shadow of a large sand dune and watched the exchange with clenched fists. Should he step in? He didn't know what kind of guy Luke really was. Marissa hadn't told him much. But right now he seemed overly possessive. He didn't care if the guy was abusive or not, just grabbing a girl like that was wrong. And not letting go.. Really wrong.
Marissa looked up to Luke once again. "Let go. I have to get back to my boyfriend."
"I'm your boyfriend, Marissa." Luke inadvertently tightened his hold on her wrist. What was she talking about!
"No! You're my ex, Luke. You're the one who wouldn't talk to me for months after my parents died…after the night we.." Marissa didn't want to cry in front of him, but the tears were coming anyway. "I lost my family and my boyfriend pressured me into losing my virginity on the same night!I let it happen and you stopped talking to me!You're all dead to me."
Ryan had had enough. He wasn't gonna be able to wait this out..not with Marissa crying. He stepped away from the shadow of the sand dune and strided toward his target. "Get your hands off her."
Luke looked up in surprise and sized up the boy coming his way. "You the new guy?" He released Marissa's wrist and watched as she crumpled to the sand crying freely and holding her wrist.
"You're Luke." Ryan stepped up to him and stared him down, his hand aching to punch the guy. Judging from all he'd heard, Luke wasn't physically abusive but he was one of those guys who got some and got gone. He looked down to Marissa and made the decision to deal with Luke later on. "You ok?" He kneeled down and brushed her hair from her face.
Marissa tried to stop her tears as she talked. "Let's go.."
Ryan didn't say anything, he just pulled her to her feet and put a steadying arm around her waist to help her walk. After they were almost to the beach house, he looked back and saw Luke watching them with an angry expression. Great. More to deal with come school.
"Oh my god! Coop!" Summer shot up from the couch and rushed to her friend's aid when she spotted Ryan leading a sickly looking Marissa into the room.
Ryan responded for her. "She had a run in with her ex.."
Seth wordlessly lifted Marissa's other arm over his neck to help with the load. "We should get her home."
Summer nodded. "Yeah.."
"I think we should have taken her to her room." Seth stated for the fourth time in the last thirty minutes. "She has her own bed. She doesn't need to sleep in Ryan's."
Summer shook her head. "Shut up. Coop needs to be around someone she feels comfortable with. That's Ryan. You don't know what happened with her and Luke. Just trust me ok."
Seth nodded. "It's just.. Her in his bed.. It's a bad thing." He glanced around the room and listened to the sounds of the house to be sure he wasn't overheard. "Ryan has a thing for Marissa."
Summer stifled a chuckle at how clueless he really was. "Duh, Cohen. But so what. They aren't related or anything."
"You think it's ok?" Seth stared at her in shock.
"Well, yeah. They aren't related at all." Summer reiterated.
Alone in the pool-house, Ryan sat in the chair by his bed and silently watched as Marissa dozed. The lines from her earlier tears were still visible on her cheeks and her hair was falling into her face, but she was still breathtaking. It was like the first time he'd seen her that night when she'd been passed out in the neighborhood. There was just something about her that made her beauty transcend even her most unhealthy appearances. Mid sleep, he watched as she shifted and the sheet slid down her body revealing that amazing dress. He knew she'd worn that for him but she didn't need to dress like that to hold his attention or stimulate his interest. She did that simply by being in the room.
Marissa opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Hey.."
"Hey.." He sat forward in the chair. "You ok?"
She slowly sat up so that her curled legs were under her. "Yeah.. I just.." She looked up and held his gaze. "You saw the whole thing didn't you?"
Ryan moved from the chair to his bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Yeah.."
Marissa leaned against him. "I was so stupid.."
"Shh.. Luke isn't worth it." He quieted before he ended up saying what he was really thinking.
"I didn't want it to be that way… and then the accident.. He never talked to me again.." She was aware she wasn't finishing her sentences or her thoughts, but she knew he understood. Ryan always understood.
"Just make it special the next time…..and make it your decision." Ryan looked at her in silence for a minute and then kissed her softly. She was like a glass figurine, so delicate. He just wanted to protect her forever. No matter what happened with the relationship. As he looked into her bright blue eyes, he made a promise to himself..and to her. Reguardless of how life turned out for them, he would never leave her alone in this world. They could breakup in a month and he'd still watch out for her..forever.