Thank you guys for reviewing. Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "The OC"


Three days passed in which nothing exciting happened. Grace avoided Ben in school; she couldn't talk to him. At first she had to sort some things out with her mother.

It was a Friday when Grace came home and said loudly: "Mom, I'm home." Nobody answered. Grace put down her bag and went to the fridge to look for something to eat when the phone rang. Grace didn't care; it was probably for her mom, one of the places she had applied to.

The answering machine went on and a voice started to speak, a voice which Grace recognized: "Hey, Marissa… I, uh, I'm sorry I didn't call back till now, I was… busy. I just wanted to ask if we could meet. I'd like to talk to you. About what happened. Well, see you then. Bye."

Grace stared at the small black box. She was suddenly freezing. Why would Ryan Atwood call her mother? Had she talked to him? And what had they talked about? Why had Marissa called him at all?

Grace sank down on her chair again. And stood up again. She had to talk to her mother, again.

When she went over to the board on which she'd left her jacket the door opened and Marissa walked in.

"Honey, you're home", she said smiling. Grace stared at her. Marissa's look became concerned. "What's wrong?", she asked suspiciously. "Sweetie?"

Wordless Grace went over to the answering machine and pressed the button. Ryan's voice sounded louder as everything else in the room.

When the message ended Grace turned around. She'd thought her mother would look away but Marissa looked her daughter straight in the eyes.

"So?", she asked. Her voice was calm.

Grace's eyes flashed a little. "Why did you talk to him? Why did you call him?"

Marissa smiled a little. "Honey, I told you. He was my friend in school. I can call an old friend when I'm back in town, can't I?"

Grace had to admit that she was right. She shrugged. "Yeah, but why… you do know that Ryan's married?"

Marissa's eyes widened. "How do you know that?", she asked. Grace's face flushed red but her voice was calm. "I guessed. You described Ryan as an attractive and nice person, so I thought he might have married."

Marissa's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so", she said instead. "And so what. We can be friends, right?"

Grace shrugged. "Sure. I gotta do my homework." She grasped her bag and went inside her room.

Something was up. She tried to pull the facts she knew together.

Her mother had talked to Ryan. Ryan was married to Gloria, who thought Marissa had died in a car crash years ago. They had a son, Ben, who knew of Marissa and her previous relationship to Ryan. And Ryan had called Marissa and asked her to meet him.

Something wasn't right.

Grace sighed. She would have to question some people again and try to figure out what had happened. And maybe Ben could help her with that.

Half an hour later Grace sat in the café on the hill and waited for Ben. She had called him and asked him to meet her. Ben sounded concerned. Grace wondered what he really knew.

"Hey", a voice said and a hand touched her shoulder. Grace looked up and saw Ben, smiling, standing behind her. He sat down in front of her.

"So, what did you want to talk about?", he asked.

Grace bit her lips. "Well. I have found out some things and they don't really fit in. Today your dad called my mom."

Ben stared at her. "What did he say?"

Grace shrugged. "She wasn't there so he left a message on the answering machine. He asked her to meet him. He wanted to talk."

Ben's eyes widened. "I wonder why he knows you moved here. Did you tell him when you met him?" Ben's voice sounded a little hurt and Grace wondered if it was because she didn't say goodbye to him when she was at his house.

Grace shook her head. "Just hello and bye. But he might know from your mom."

Quickly she told him what happened in the living room, how Gloria had caught her looking at the pictures on the cupboard and what she'd said about Marissa.

When Grace ended, Ben seemed to consider what to say. "I've never really looked at the pictures on the cupboard. I've never seen the one with the four people. I guess", he paused, "it's just some rumor she'd heard. But maybe…" He chewed on his lips.

"What?", Grace said urgently.

Ben looked at her. "I think I heard my neighbor saying something like this. I can't really remember. I think they said one of their friends died some time ago. Dad didn't say anything about it."

Grace lifted her hands. "But why do they think that? Maybe I should take them to my mom so they can see it by themselves."

Ben's eyebrows rose. "Maybe you should just do that."

"I can't", Grace said. "It's actually not my business."

Ben shook his head. "It was as soon as you investigated my living room."

Grace's face flushed. "I didn't investigate. I just looked around", she said angrily.

"Whatever. But you can't just stop here. You have to find out the truth." Ben's voice was urgent.

Grace stared at him. "Why? Why are you suddenly so interested?", she asked suspiciously.

Ben shrugged. "I just want to know. As do you." "I don't." "So why did you want to meet me here?"

Grace rolled her eyes. "You know what? I'm not even sure anymore." She stood up. "I think I'm gonna go. See you."

Ben said nothing. Grace felt his look on her back when she left the café.


Hope you liked it. Please review.