Chapter 14 Where in the world is Ryan Atwood?

It had been an hour since Alex had finally passed out from emotional exhaustion and Marissa still sat softly stroking the girl's blonde tresses. Marissa found her eyes drooping despite her efforts to stay awake, in the end the physical fatigue from her adventures in surfing and the emotional strain from watching Alex collapse proved to be too much, the brunette's eyes finally drifted shut sending her reluctantly to dream land.

Los Angeles

After Ryan hung up with Seth he immediately called the airlines to make reservations for himself to Hawaii. While he threw pieces of clothing into his carryon luggage the blonde placed a call to the office and told them he wouldn't be in for the next couple of days. That done, he grabbed his bag and hurried out to the street hailing a cab, he was soon on his way to LAX. He had this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he had a bad feeling why.

As soon as Seth was out of her apartment Summer ran to her phone and dialed the number Marissa had given her. While she listened to the phone ringing on the other end, the short brunette glared at a photo of her and Seth, as she flipped it so it was face down she heard a strange voice greeting her on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" A female voice said. Summer was caught off guard at first then she was talking all at once.

"Is Marissa there?" she asked confidently. There was a pause and then she heard the person on the phone say something to someone.

"She can't come to the phone right now, but I could give her a message." The voice said. Summer frowned; she couldn't quite decide what to do.

"It's kind of important, could you have her call me as soon as possible."

"Sure, no problem, can I get your name and number?"

"Just tell her Summer called, she has the number." Summer paused a moment and then shyly asked "Umm I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" She heard a soft chuckle on the other end of the line and the sound sent shivers down her spine.

"Jodie, nice to meet you Summer. I'll be sure to give this to Marissa right away. Nice talking to you."

"You too. Bye." After hanging up Summer proceeded to smack her forehead with the cordless phone. "What the hell was that?" She asked herself before sitting down on her couch. Immediately Charlie got up from his position by the TV and sat himself right in front of Summer. The little dog looked up at the brunette with soulful eyes and whined softly. "I know Mr. C, I miss her too." Charlie laid his head down on Summer's bare feet and whimpered softly. Sighing the girl bent down and petted the dogs head. "You aren't so bad sometimes Charlie, I can almost see what Marissa gets from having you around." The dog raised its head and stared at her for a moment, then huffed and put his head back down as if to say 'you aren't so bad yourself.' Summer rolled her eyes and sat back, waiting for the phone to ring.

Hawaii

Alex woke with a start, her heart pounding. She lay frozen for a moment, something felt wrong, out of place; she became aware of the warmth and the gentle rise and fall of the body below her. Gingerly she sat up and looked at the sleeping girl, her emotions a tangled mess; she fought the urge to run out of the room. Instead she quietly stood, grabbed her surf board, and made her way out to the beach.

As she stared out at the crystal water, glittering like a thousand diamonds in the late afternoon sun, she felt the ocean calling to her. It was the thing she loved the most in the world, it was also the thing she feared the most. Alex contemplated this as she dove into the water with her board and paddled out to wait for the right wave. Out here on the water nothing mattered, she was free; free of the expectations and disappointments, free of the tension and strain of her life. This is how it had always been for her, ever since she had first learned to surf, it was her escape.

Then it had taken her sister and somehow it just felt as if it was the water's way of punishing her for some unknown crime. Alex didn't surf, didn't even go near the water for over a year. She had felt betrayed by it, by the ocean she loved so much. It had taken almost having a complete nervous breakdown to get the tormented blonde back out on the water. Once there she had felt as if she were once again connected to her sister, ever since then there wasn't a single day that went by without Alex being in the water. Weather it was doing laps in the lagoon or surfing, Alex never failed to answer the oceans call.

Now, she felt that old fear creeping back into her, the thought of losing the brunette beauty sleeping on her couch terrified her to no end. Alex knew she shouldn't let herself get too attached to the girl; Marissa would be going back to L.A. at the end of summer. "What the hell am I supposed to do?" Alex asked herself and almost fell off her board when she heard a familiar voice answer her.

"What ever you think is right." The blonde turned to see Jodie sitting on her own board near by. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was delivering a message to Marissa when I saw you out here." Alex nodded at her friend then looked out at the horizon. Jodie stared at Alex for a long moment before paddling closer.

"I heard what happened with Marissa and I know what you are thinking Kelly." the brunette said as she picked at a piece of wax build up on her board. Again Alex looked at her. "You have to let it go Al, it wasn't your fault. If anything it was my fault." Alex cut her off.

"No Jodie, it wasn't your fault."

"As much mine as it is yours Alex, so if it was your fault it was mine as well."

Alex just stared at Jodie, this amazing woman she had once loved with all her heart her first love, who even now was still trying to help heal old wounds. "You're amazing, you know that?" Jodie smirked at her before turning her board to catch an incoming wave. "I know." The girl said right before paddling furiously and being swept away by an avalanche of water. Alex grinned and then caught the next wave in.

Marissa woke slowly, slightly disoriented. "Alex?" She called out softly realizing that the blonde was no longer next to her. Sitting up she saw a piece of paper with her name on it sitting on the coffee table right in front of her, smiling she grabbed the note and read it. Her smile faltered slightly when she saw it wasn't from Alex, sighing she got up and left for the main house in search of her cell phone. As she walked across the beach she saw Alex and Jodie out on the water. The brunette was paddling back out and the object of her fascination was in the process of carving up a wave.

"Hey Marissa, did you get your note?" Jodie yelled, as she did she realized that it probably not the brightest idea she had since Alex wiped out at the mention of the lanky brunette. Both Marissa and Jodie winced as a water logged Alex surfaced.

"Yeah thanks Jodie." Waving at the two surfers Marissa continued up to the main house. Once in her room the brunette grabbed the house phone and dialed Summer's number, Marissa collapsed onto her bed as she listened to the phone ring.

Summer picked up on the third ring, sounding groggy, "Yehllo?"

"Did I interrupt?" Marissa teased as she fiddled with the edge of her pillow.

"Huh? Oh no, no. That lying weasel left a couple of hours ago." Summer said the sleep leaving her voice as her ire rose. "Coop, Ryan knows where you are. Seth told him. I tried to get a hold of him at the office and someone said that he was gone for the weekend. He might be headed your way Coop." It took Marissa a moment to understand Summer's rapid fire words, but when they did register the brunette shot up into a sitting position. "How long ago Sum?"

"I don't know I called while Seth was in the shower, about three hours ago. I am so sorry Coop, I know this is a little sooner than we had discussed." Summer said apologetically.

"It's okay Sum, I can work with it." Marissa said as she went into the bathroom and turned on the tap in the shower. "I'll call you tomorrow Sum; I have to get in the shower now."

"Okay Coop, call and let me know what's up."

"I will bye."

"Bye." After hanging up with Summer, Marissa quickly stripped down and got in the shower. As she stood under the hot water, the brunette tried to focus her thoughts. Ryan might very well be on his way here, which was good, but at the same time she really wished that she had enough time to fill Alex in on her little plan as well as give Theresa a heads up to keep the baby hid. As it was she was beginning to doubt the practicality of her plan; sure the thought of letting Ryan catch her with another person absolutely delighted her, but was it fair to Alex and Theresa to put them in this complicated position.

Sighing Marissa got out of the shower, toweling off the excess moisture before wrapping the fluffy white towel around her body. Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts that seemed to be attacking her mind, the brunette quickly dressed in a pair of khaki Capri pants, a light blue polo shirt, and white deck shoes; painfully aware that time was now a major issue. 'Don't have time to day dream right now Cooper. Get your mind out of the clouds.' The girl chided herself, tying her damp hair up in a loose pony tail before quickly leaving the room and making her way back down to the guest house.

As she approached the smaller dwelling she saw Jodie wave at her as she left, now there was just her, Alex, and the setting sun. The beautiful blonde surfer was sitting in the sand staring out at the ocean, her surf board standing guard a few feet away. "How are you feeling?" Alex asked softly, not looking away from the horizon.

Marissa knew Alex was referring to her earlier adventures in the art of breath holding but ignored the true meaning. "Fine. Actually looking forward to trying again I had a blast." Alex finally turned her gaze to take in the girl now sitting next to her. "Actually I need to tell you something." The blonde cocked an eyebrow at her.

"And what would that be?"

"Ryan knows where I am and there is a good chance he is on his way here as we speak." Marissa winced as Alex narrowed her eyes at her.

"How did he find out? Kirsten said she told him you were in France." Alex asked suspiciously.

Taking a deep breath Marissa made the decision to censor her story some, hoping that it wouldn't come back to bite. "My best friend Summer is dating Seth and apparently he snooped through her cell phone and saw the number here. He called Ryan and now Summ says that Ryan wasn't in the office and informed his secretary that he was taking the rest of the week off." Marissa watched the cloned for a few minutes trying to judge her reaction, but the girl remained unreadable.

Finally she spoke, her voice a mix of mirth and sarcasm. "Remind me to kill my god brother." Alex said as she stood up and grabbed her board. "I have to call Theresa." With that she began to walk toward her house but the stopped and looked at Marissa. "You coming?" the brunette jumped and quickly caught up to the blonde surfer.