I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for following the story. It was just an idea of mine and I'm glad that some people are enjoying it.

This is going to be a six-parter.

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"Stupid ass!" Summer screamed. Danny Williams had just missed a three-point shot and the Harbor High supporters didn't appreciate it much. In his almost four years of high school, it was only his second time of being in that room, outside of gym class. The first time had been when he'd gone to pick up the book he'd left on a bench the previous day and then, it was just an empty room with hardwood floors. But today, it had girls in skimpy outfits and pompoms and boys who think chasing after a ball is a good way to spend an evening. It was amazing how the human mind worked -tell a bunch of kids that there's glory in winning a $5 copper statue and watch them devote every waking hour to trying to attain the said honor. It wasn't exactly a secret that he didn't care much for organized sports but Summer had wanted to come and he'd yet to figure out a way to refuse her. At least, not since she'd taken him back.

Marissa watched the jock --with his head bent and shoulders slumped-- walk to his coach as another time-out had just been called. Danny and her had barely spoken since their one week relationship in 5th grade and for the first time in a long time, she wondered how he was doing. Lately, she'd been doing a lot of wondering. Wondering and thinking.

Soon after Christina was born, Ryan started calling. A lot. Their one minute conversations extended into three hour discussions on topics as varied as theology and artificial intelligence. Who would have known that Ryan considered himself a reluctant agnostic? She'd been initially ecstatic that he'd started opening up and didn't feel the need to hide his feelings from her but as time passed, she questioned it. She noted that as the pregnancy progressed and the prospect of being a father became more real, Ryan slipped away from her. But ever since he did, in fact, become a father, and the DNA test did prove that he was, indeed, the father, he'd been different. Marissa wondered if he'd decided to be with her now because he missed her or his guilt was simply guiding his actions. After all, he must have realized what the devastation fathering a child outside their relationship had caused her.

Summer smiled at Seth as she put her hand over his and held on affectionately. It amazed him how just a few months earlier, that gesture would have sent electricity surging through his very core, but right then, all he felt was gratitude. He'd done wrong and she had forgiven him. She was the girl he loved; the girl he'd loved all his life; the girl he'd known he'd love all his life; the only girl he could love, the only girl he was allowed to love for as long as he lived and probably thereafter. When she bent her head and a tuft of hair skimmed her face, Seth couldn't help but notice how incredibly beautiful she was. At one point, he'd never thought that there could be anybody more desirable but lately, he'd chided himself for entertaining the thought.

Marissa's mouth felt dry. "I'm going to get something to drink," she announced.

Ryan softly touched her hand and said, "No, let me."

She smiled but shook her head. Even though she was thirsty and needed another cup of ice cold water, she also needed to get away for a minute, or maybe a while, just so that she could be alone and clear her head. They'd always had their little outings, the four of them, hanging out and being together but it just seemed different on this day. It could have been because it had been some time since they'd gotten together like this, but deep down, she knew that it was because they were no longer those teens who'd spent afternoons laughing together in the Spring of '04. Pregnancy, divorce, break-ups and make-ups had interfered in their lives and Marissa wasn't sure she liked the changes they had brought about. And then there was Seth.

Seth watched Marissa and Ryan whisper to one another as the game resumed. Truth be known, neither of them wanted to be at the game either but they'd come to support him – in honor of his relationship. When Ryan had told him he and Marissa were getting back together, he'd been a little surprised. Even though his mind remained filled with thoughts of Summer, he'd thought that she'd been different -that she'd moved on. She had never explicitly said it, but she'd stopped talking about Ryan and the wistful look in her eyes no longer appeared the rare time she mentioned his name. Plus Seth hated that he'd been robbed of the opportunity to decide on a way to feel if he ever saw them together.

"Just fucking," she'd said to herself over and over again. It was the ideology she'd held on to every night she'd spent with Seth and at some point, she'd begun to believe it. And kept on believing till the night Ryan kissed her. It was on a Saturday and they'd spent the afternoon together, with him explaining he wasn't in love with Theresa but will always love her because she was the mother of his child and apologizing for the way he'd treated her. Maybe if she'd seen something other than guilt in those bright blue eyes of his, she'd have fallen in love all over again. But she couldn't, not when she knew that he only wanted to get back with her because he wanted to ease the pain he felt from betraying their relationship. And when he expertly kissed her with those lips she'd spent sleepless nights fantasizing about, all she wanted was to run fingers through, and grab, thick, black, curly hair.

The other spectators didn't appreciate that she was blocking their view, even momentarily, but she needed to get out of there. Pretending to be a couple with a boy she wasn't sure she ever loved, the boy she suspected never really knew her, was making her sick. But seeing the only boy who she'd ever been herself with, the boy she'd not always been afraid to open up to, fawn over her best friend, was even worse. As she walked to the concession stand, she wished she hadn't made that promise to not touch anything alcoholic for three months.

"Aren't you glad we came?" Summer asked, leaning in to Seth and putting her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he said, smiling weakly. Could she really be that clueless? He'd only really known Marissa for a few months but he was certain she'd have picked up on his mood. He didn't want to date her – they weren't meant for one another, but it was a shame that Summer wasn't a bit more like her. He kicked himself for having such thoughts – it wasn't fair to either girl. It just meant that he'd have to work even harder to make their relationship work; that he'd just have to work harder to remember what it was about her that solidified their love.

"The line must be long," Summer commented after Marissa didn't return for a while. "She should have let you get that drink for her," she said, lightly patting Ryan on the knee. "By the time she returns, we'll already be in the fourth quarter."

Her theory might have been right if Seth hadn't noticed that a couple of people who'd left after she did had long since returned.

"Nothing would happen down there, right?" Ryan asked.

He shook his head. "Not with Vice Principal Walker on the warpath. Anyway," he said, shaking his half-full cup, "I need to get a refill. Anyone want anything?"