Hello again! You have entered chapter six, a new favorite of mine. Of course, I'm making it up as I go along, so it can only get better, right! Special thanks to Sis2ACesarSalad, and it's supposed to be spelled that way, apparently, so, my apoligies. You've reviewed all my chapters and it's very nice of you! I definitely share your feelings about Teresa, although I might say it in a different way. I must apologize in advance, though, 'cause I think it's in my best interest to keep Ryan and Marissa in close range, with my best interest being keeping them together. It certainly keeps things interesting, and if they had stuck with it on the show we would see a lot more of Ryan shirtless. And who can complain about that! Well, enjoy the show, folks, I sure enjoyed making it!

Seth woke up to something pounding on his chest. At first he thought he was still on the boat and a bird was pouncing on him…a very large bird. Eventually he remembered he was home now. He could feel the something, or someone, breathing over him heavily. Then there was some licking of his ear. Had they gotten a dog while he was gone?

"God, Cohen, you sleep like a rock!" She pounded on his chest again, harder now.

"Okay, okay," Seth mumbled drowsily. "I thought we got a dog." Summer giggled and kissed his neck persistently. "And apparently we did," he said with his usual sarcasm.

"Less talking, less clothing," Summer breathed deeply, then began tugging his shirt up. "Arms up, Cohen!" She growled. He let her remove the shirt.

"Yes, madam," he said, then gulped at the look in her eyes.

"Just shut up and kiss me, Cohen!" She barked, but did it herself instead. Halfway through a rather lengthy kiss Seth did that thing where he gestures with his index finger to stop, the one Summer hated, but responded to anyway.

"What!"

"Uh…whatever happened to the 'Teresa' thing?"

"Wha? Oh…," she slurred between kisses, "doesn't matter…'nymore…not….Ryan's baby…he left…." Summer continued kissing Seth's chest and rambling as he registered this.

"I know he left," Seth mumbled while Summer nibbled at his lower lip, "but what does that have to do with this?"

"No Seth, he left Chino, he's coming back. Okay? Now, why aren't you taking off your pants yet?!" She grabbed his sides.

"Because we have to go get Ryan!" He sat up, nearly knocking Summer to the ground.

"You don't need to," She said, backing against the door, "Marissa's bringing him here." She stood up and grabbed Seth's slender waist. "Now be a good little boy and nibble at my ear a bit," Summer pouted, leaning into him, " I think I'm starting to like it."

"I…I can't," Seth took a step back, "they'll be here any minute."

"Not for another half hour. That's more than enough time." Summer grinned slyly.

"What about my parents?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Out to dinner," she stepped close again. "Said something 'bout killing you later, though."

"I am dead, aren't I?"

"Pretty much. But it'll feel much worse if you don't get to sleep with your girlfriend one last time before D-day. So, I'll just let you…write your will. See ya," she started to walk away, grinning.

"Oh, what the hell," he shrugged, grabbing Summer from behind and swooping her over his shoulder, then dropping her on the bed again and smothering her.

"You didn't need to do this," Ryan said, still looking out the passenger window.

"Yeah, I did. What she did was wrong."

"No it wasn't," Ryan retorted, still not moving.

"Ryan, she took advantage of you!" Marissa laughed sarcastically. "She knew that baby wasn't yours, and she let you try to ruin your life anyway. You're too good like that."

"Just stop it, Marissa," he said, a little too loudly. "You don't know."

Marissa glared at him, then turned back to the road. She pulled off to the side and looked directly at him. "Yes, I do." She looked at the back of his head and sighed at the irony of it all. "Ryan, I do, because you did it for me. You gave up everything you could have had to fix all of my problems. And I couldn't let you do it again."

"No, you couldn't lose me again." Ryan said coldly, his jaw twitching as he clenched it tight.

Marissa chewed on the inside of her cheek, thinking of what to say and staring at the steering wheel. "You know what?" He turned to her. "You're right. Of course I didn't want to lose you, Ryan!" She paused, furrowing her eyebrows and shaking her head, a tear gleaming in her eye. "But you're lying if you say you don't feel the same way. Because you wouldn't have gotten in this car if you didn't."

Ryan looked at his hands. He wanted to take those hands and hold Marissa in them; do ungodly things with them. But he had to learn some self-control in that area. After all, that was what had put him in this position anyways. And he certainly had self-control when showing his emotions. Maybe he should let that restraint go. So he did. "Then…I guess I did. Feel the same way."

Marissa sniffled as a tear streamed down her cheek. She took his hand in hers and Ryan squeezed it tightly. That was enough. No more words were needed. Marissa pulled back onto the road and they drove off.

Seth cleared his throat. "Well, that was…"

"Nice," Summer finished from his chest, being unusually sincere about it.

"Nice? Is… 'nice' good?"

"'Nice' is very good," she said softly, cuddling closer to him. 'Nice' is what I've needed since you left, Seth. 'Nice' is you."

Seth rubbed her bare back softly with his fingertips. "I know, Sum, and I'm really sorry about all of this. I just needed to-" he stopped and looked around the room.

"What?"

"Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"That noise… there it is again!" He said, and they both listened intently, hearing faint giggling and footsteps moving up the stairs. "Ooohhh, god…they're home."

"What do we do?" Summer whispered, not moving.

"Get under the bed," Seth whispered back, not taking his eyes off the door.

"Cohen, I'm naked!"

"Shhh. Take this." He threw her his bathrobe from the floor. Summer got out of the bed and put it on, then slipped under the small frame- not without giving Seth a very bad look, though. Seth reached out an arm to his desk chair and grabbed a tee shirt, then slipped it on quickly. The giggling and shuffling feet came very near to the door, then went away.

Well, it didn't really go away, it was more like Kirsten and Sandy decided to take it into the bedroom. Seth realized this and rubbed a hand over his eyes, breathing out for the first time in the last five minutes. Summer noticed and emerged from under the bed. "You look very sexy in that robe," Seth said lazily.

"Yeah? Well it's about as much of me as you're gonna see for a while," she whispered angrily.

"What? Why! You can't blame this on me, it was your idea!"

"Seth, your parents almost caught us in bed together! Don't you think we should take it easy for a while?"

"No!" He laughed. "Easy is…. easy!"

"I don't care, Cohen-" Summer stopped mid-sentence after hearing a soft moan. Her eyes got very large and she crept over to the wall separating the rooms. "I can't believe they still do that," she whispered.

"I can't believe you're still listening to them. Hand me my boxers." Summer tossed them to Seth and he wriggled under the covers for a few moments, then got out of the bed, somewhat clothed, and walked over to where Summer was listening. He pressed his ear near hers. They turned to look at each other in disgust after hearing what was going on. Just then they heard the front door open…

Gotta love the cliffhanger. It was what single-handedly saved so many boring sitcoms. That and adding an eight-year old. Not to say that the OC is boring, not in the least! Without the OC and the classic cliffhanger, half of the lovely stories on this site wouldn't exist! And we'd still have to wait 'till November for the next season! But anyways, I'll try to update ASAP, but it may take a little longer than usual, because I have a lot of things to do tommorow ( as in more than one thing to do). Reviews are, as always, appreciated, so feel free. Have a nice day. (I need a job....can you tell?)