Disclaimer: I don't own the O.C. or its characters. All I own is my piece of the story line, which has been done…too many times to count.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys. Not commenting on them this time…except for one, because this chapter is kind of long. Sorry about the late update, I know it's not much of an excuse…but the grandparents came into town for a surprise visit and I was banned from the computer from Friday to Sunday night…
Diablo17-I was looking over my notes last night and realized this too. So now I'm making an effort to put more of Marissa's past in the story, to show that she's not just going to assimilate into Newport society so easily. Tell me if I'm doing an okay job. It will become more clear in the next chapter—you'll see.
Enjoy, and as always, don't forget to review!
"Ryan," Grace jumped up, pushing Rocky away. Lurching toward him in a drunken stupor, she tried to hug Ryan but grabbed thin air. Ryan ran out the back door and thudded down the stone path. "Wait, Ryan, I can explain…"
Rocky threw Grace her shirt, which she gratefully accepted, untidily shoving over her head. Barefoot, she ran after Ryan, something Marissa thought was incredibly foolish.
Rocky quickly shoved on his pants, turning his back to Marissa as he hooked the belt. Surprisingly, she was still standing there once he was done. Even though Rocky and Marissa weren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend, Rocky felt totally guilty and somewhat obligated to give Marissa an explanation.
"You're drunk," Marissa observed. If Rocky hadn't been drunk, he would've laughed at Marissa's comment. She found herself so smart when drunk, even while pointing out the obvious.
"I'm sorry," he offered. "It just kind of…happened."
Marissa ignored Rocky's advances but allowed herself to be enveloped in a hug.
What was she doing here?
Already she'd hooked up with her friend's boyfriend, and been cheated on by her somewhat boyfriend.
Marissa could definitely get into less trouble where she was from.
"Ryan, wait," Grace yelled. Ryan stopped in his tracks. He seemed to be tired—dead tired—yet showed no emotion on his face. "Ryan, I love you."
"Really? So you loved me when you were practically having sex on the couch with Rocky?" Ryan yelled, a dangerous glint in his eyes. He knew it wasn't entirely fair, seeing as he and Marissa had just been doing the same thing. But one thing Ryan had was pride. And he wasn't about to admit his escapade to Grace.
So that wasn't fair, at all. He could forgive and forget…Grace seemed to do a lot of that anyway.
"You know what?" Ryan asked, stepping closer to Grace. He could smell her coconut shampoo and strawberry lip-gloss. "Let's just put it all behind us. Everything that happened tonight, I mean."
"Really? Um, okay. I promise I'll never do it again," Grace giggled as Ryan moved closer to her. He kissed her softly on the lips, trying to enjoy the moment, but his mind was stuck on another girl.
Marissa.
"Marissa, I can explain," Rocky said. Marissa turned her back on him, arms crossed, and through the French doors she could see Ryan and Grace kissing. Furious at Ryan's sudden change of heart, Marissa turned around.
"We both made mistakes tonight, I know. Can we just forget about them and move on? I like you, and I don't want to screw up this whole Newport thing. Because Chino's not exactly welcoming right now," Marissa said. Rocky smiled, and drew her in closer…
Later that night, Summer and Seth were up in her bedroom doing God knows what. Marissa glanced around at the guestroom. She supposed it was her bedroom now. She took one final look, and turned off the lights, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
After grabbing a water bottle from the refrigerator, Marissa let herself out the front door and disappeared into the night.
"You want me to go wake Marissa up?" Seth asked. Summer was making eggs and had swatted at Seth's hands when he'd wrapped his arms around her and begun to kiss her neck.
"That'd be great," Summer said, taking her eyes off the eggs for a second to peck Seth on the lips.
Seth ran up the stairs and knocked on Marissa's closed bedroom door. Assuming she was still asleep, Seth opened the door and found an empty room. There was no Marissa.
He spied a piece of Summer's rose colored stationary on the desk, and grabbed it.
I had to get away and clear my mind. I'll be back before Ashley and your dad come back from their trip.
Xx Marissa
"Sum?" Seth yelled, running down the stairs with the pink note in hand.
He handed her the note and watched as she read it.
"Shit. I bet this has to do with Ryan and Grace," Summer groaned. "She better get back soon. My parents are coming back tomorrow morning."
"Wait…what about Ryan and Grace?" Seth asked, stealing a piece of bacon from the frying pan, then wincing as it burned his tongue.
"Marissa likes Ryan, and thinks he likes her. But then there's Gra—" Summer trailed off, looking alarmed. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."
"What?" Seth screeched.
"Shut up, Cohen," Summer snapped, and as Seth opened his mouth in response, she silenced him with a kiss.
"Okay," Seth agreed amiably, after Summer ended the kiss. "Forgotten."
Not wanting to leave the house, in case Marissa returned, Seth and Summer decided to spend the day lounging by Summer's pool. Summer brought out a timer so she could get an even tan, and proceeded to bake in the sun. Seth opted to lie on a clear orange float, alcoholic pina colada in his hand. He wore the sunglasses Summer had bought him, and soon fell asleep.
Apparently Summer fell asleep too, because Seth was jarred out of a pleasant afternoon nap by a big splash of water.
"What the—Oh hey, Ryan," Seth took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
Ryan dunked his head under the water and came back up, shaking his wet hair like a dog. "Grace had to go to Disneyland for her little sister's birthday party, and I didn't want to swim at the house. And I figured you were here, so here I am."
Seth laughed. "Summer's sleeping. She set a timer so she could get an even tan but obviously that plan didn't work so well."
"Where's Marissa?" Ryan asked, doggy paddling to the shallow end of the pool.
"Oh, uh, she had to go somewhere for a while. I think she'll be back soon," Seth said. Where was Marissa, anyway? She'd promised Summer that she would return before Neil and Ashley Roberts got home.
"Cool," Ryan said. Seth wasn't sure what Summer had been talking about before. Ryan didn't seem like he cared where Marissa was that much. So how did he like her? Seth shook his head, he was supposed to forget what Summer had told him. It was hard, though.
Seth soon drifted back off to sleep and Ryan wandered into Summer's kitchen for a late afternoon snack. He was in the process of scooping some cookie dough ice cream into a bowl when the front door slammed.
"Summer, I'm back," Marissa yelled, coming into the kitchen. Ryan noticed her before she realized his presence.
"Hey, stranger," Ryan grinned. Her eyes were bloodshot and had a faraway look in them, and she had an angry red scrape on her neck, but she was still beautiful. "What happened to you?"
"Hey…Ryan," Marissa said awkwardly. "Nothing happened. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Ryan asked. She didn't look fine.
"Yeah, yeah, for sure," Marissa set her bag down on the counter. "Where's Summer?"
"I'll go get her, if you want," Ryan offered, hurrying to the pool. "Summer," he yelled, shaking the sleeping girl. "Marissa's back and she wants to talk to you."
Summer looked up. "Marissa's back?"
Ryan nodded, and Summer jumped up from her sleeping position and ran into the house.
Summer followed the sound of mellifluous crying into the living room. Marissa was curled up in a fetal position on the couch, rocking back and forth.
"Ohmigosh, Marissa, what's wrong?" Summer asked, sitting next to her step-cousin. "Where were you last night?"
Marissa wiped her nose on her sleeve and looked at Summer with bloodshot, tearstained eyes. "I went back to Ch-Chino," she sniffed.
She quietly let a few more tears escape, then continued. "My dad…he's gone."
Alarm bells flashed in Summer's eyes and rang in her ears. "What do you mean, he's gone?"
"I went back to the house…" Marissa explained, crying freely now. "And my dad wasn't there. There was nothing there. Just a note, saying sorry."
"Oh, Marissa," Summer began. "Why would you go back there?"
"Sum, don't take it personally," Marissa answered. "But I don't really belong here. You're great and all, and so is Seth. But this whole thing with Ryan and Grace…I can't deal with it."
"Come here, baby," Summer soothed, pulling Marissa closer to her. "It's okay. I understand…"
"Ooh, that's pretty," Grace pulled at Marissa's wrist, which was adorned in the bracelet Ryan had given her. "Who's it from?"
"Nobody," Marissa tried to shrug Grace off. But Grace had already flipped the heart around and was studying the inscription carefully.
"Is that from Rocky?" Grace demanded to know. "Did Ryan give this to you?"
Before Marissa could lie through her teeth, the guilty feeling bubbled to the tip of her tongue. Luckily Rocky and Ryan came up to them then. The weekend's events had been forgiven by all, and the two boys seemed to be friends again, even. Rocky still hadn't given Marissa her gift, what with the disappearance to Chino on Sunday.
"Rocky, that was so sweet of you," Grace gushed, enviously fingering the silver bracelet. "Ryan never gets me gifts anymore."
Rocky stared at the bracelet, as if trying to remember it. He glanced at Marissa, and noticed the look of urgency in her eyes. "Yeah, well, I figured Marissa didn't have a sweet sixteen, and it was her birthday, so why not?" Marissa knew she would have some explaining to do later; Rocky was giving her that pointed look that meant business.
"Aww, Grace," Ryan slung his arm around Grace easily, "I got you that bracelet for your sweet sixteen. You didn't lose yours did you?"
"Nope," Grace wiggled her wrist and jangling could be heard. Ryan headed off to walk her to class. Rocky turned to Marissa.
"Ryan got you that bracelet, didn't he?" Rocky asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"Look." Frustrated, Marissa tucked her bangs behind her ear. "He got it for me, but it's not what you think. It's a friendship bracelet, Rocky."
"So that engraved heart is a friendship heart, huh?" Rocky challenged. He wrapped his arm around Marissa.
"Yes…no. Okay," Marissa couldn't stop the smile creeping across her face, "It's not my fault if Ryan likes me. Because I like you."
Rocky accepted this, but try as she could, Marissa could not make her heart stick true to her words.
During lunch, Marissa desperately needed to catch up on her English Lit. Homework. After a quick lunch with Rocky, she went back into the school to find an empty classroom.
Or what she thought was an empty classroom.
Grace and some boy, Marissa thought his name might be Andrew, were making out on the teacher's desk.
"Oh!" Startled, Marissa started to back out of the classroom. The two teenagers broke apart from their embrace, embarrassed. "Uh…I'll see you around, Grace."
"Marissa, wait," Grace called, but Marissa didn't look back. She ran down the hall, confused and upset.
How come Grace could have the best of both worlds, while she couldn't?
A/N: So you're all wondering why Ryan would be so stupid and take Grace back, right? Okay, well I just wanted to show that he needs her; he's comfortable in his relationship with her and doesn't want that to change. Plus, she just forgave him for cheating, so it's only fair. But it's going to change eventually. Don't worry. Sorry for the chapter. Chapter 11 will be up by tomorrow night—I promise.