Note: I do not own The O.C.
EXCITING chapter - Ryan and Marissa finally... (you'll have to read to see :) And Seth and Summer try to deal with her leaving. Please R&R, thanks!

Just as Ryan was about to panic and go looking for Marissa, she walked into the poolhouse looking happy and refreshed.
"What . . where have you been?" Ryan asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" she smiled seductively and put her jacket and purse on a chair.
Ryan looked at her, confused.
"Just kidding," she laughed, but got serious when she saw that Ryan wasn't in the mood. "I saw my therapist. I made a mistake last night. Of making other people's problems my own, which I do, like, all the time. It's something I'm working on," she said and cracked a small smile again, trying to see if Ryan was upset, but he reciprocated with his own little smile.
"So you can talk to her about it but not me?" Ryan teased.
"Well, that IS her specialty," she joked back. "Where's Summer?"
"Hung over. In the kitchen. Coffee," he explained.
Marissa nodded, biting her lower lip and walking toward Ryan. She put her hands on his face and pulled him toward her. They kissed passionately, and Marissa playfully pushed Ryan onto the bed and straddled him, where they continued to kiss passionately.

In the kitchen, Seth and Summer sipped coffee as Seth waited for the toast to pop up. The both had somber faces.
"So Baltimore, huh?" Seth wanted to tell Summer not to leave, to run away with him to Tahiti and stay with him forever, but he didn't. He knew it would only upset both of them.
"Yeah," she replied, then paused. "Baltimore," she said with defeat in her voice.
Seth buttered the toast and sat down next to Summer. He scooted his chair close to her and gently tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. "What am I going to do without you?"
"I don't know," she looked up at him, "but if Ryan leaving makes you take off to Avalon, then my leaving better get you all the way to Tahiti," she joked, trying to lighten the mood. But Seth wasn't in the mood to joke. He kissed Summer on the forehead and fed her a piece of toast. He didn't know what to say, so he just held her.

Back in the poolhouse, Ryan and Marissa were still on the bed. They were kissing and touching each other lovingly. Marissa pulled her shirt off and then took Ryan's off as well. As she unbuttoned his pants, he worked hard to keep his breathing under control. Marissa kissed his neck, then his chest. Ryan pulled Marissa's hair off of her neck and kissed her gently on her collarbone as she shivered. They moved to the center of the bed as they continued to kiss.

Sandy and Kirsten walked into the kitchen together to find and Seth and Summer in a silent embrace. After Seth told them everything about Summer leaving, all four of them were in a bad mood.
"I'm so sorry, honey," Kirsten said to Summer. "I'm sure your father had a good reason for keeping this from you."
"Although I can't imagine why," Sandy said without thinking. Kirsten glared at him. "Well, yeah, I'm sure he, uh, yeah, he probably had a, you know a good reason," he stuttered.
"Do you want me to take you home?" Kirsten asked Summer. "You probably have a lot to talk about with your father."
"No, thank you though," Summer stood up. "I kind-of just wanna hang out here if it's okay."
"Of course," Kirsten said sympathetically, then turned to Seth. "Your father and I are going over to your grandfather's house for a while, he needs some help with a legal issue and Julie and I have some plans to go over for the Newport New Year's benefit party. We'll be back tonight in time for dinner."
"Okay," Seth said, still feeling down.

They left and Seth and Summer went upstairs to Seth's room.

"I guess you probably want to have goodbye sex or something," Summer said.
"Summer, you're not leaving for a couple weeks," Seth laughed nervously. Her comment caught him off guard. "But, yeah, sure, if you're offering."
Summer threw a pillow at him. "You're supposed to say 'No, I just wanna be with you, we don't have to have sex.'"
"Oh, sorry," he laughed again, but grabbed her around the waist and kissed her anyway.
She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

Ryan and Marissa were down to just their underwear and they were breathing heavily.

"You ready to do this?" Ryan asked.

Marissa smiled and kissed him again. "I've been ready," she said.

Ryan got up to get a condom - he didn't want to make the same mistake he made with Theresa again.

When he got back, Marissa was kneeling on the bed.

"I love you," she said.

He knelt in front of her and held her hands in his. "I love you too," he said. She looked down, remembering all the times she told him that before without a response, but he pushed her chin up gently so she was looking at him again. "I love you," he repeated.

They laid down on their sides facing each other and Marissa laid her hand on Ryan's face while she kissed him. He put his hand on her back and pulled her closer to him. He kissed her cheek, then her neck, then her shoulder. Then they made love for the first time, there in the pool house, in Ryan's home. It was a very Merry Christmas for both of them.

The next Friday was New Year's Eve. Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Summer had all planned on going to the benefit party that Kirsten was helping with. Seth was in his bedroom getting ready when Ryan popped in to check on his progress. He was sitting slumped over on his bed, still not dressed.

"What's going on, man? We gotta leave in like 10 minutes," Ryan said checking his watch.
"What's the point?" Seth whined, "Summer's leaving and all I wanna do is mope around. Why should I go out and pretend I'm happy about it?"
"For Summer," Ryan said. "So she can be happy."
Seth paused as he thought about this.
"You know what dude? You're right, I'm gonna get ready and go out and show a Summer a good time before she leaves," Seth said as he started to dress. "Thanks man," he said to Ryan.
Ryan nodded, but had that look on his face he has when Seth confuses him, which if often. "Okay then," he said as he left the room to finish getting ready himself.

When they got to the party, they separated to find their girlfriends. Seth found Summer at the bar, and decided to have a drink with her. It would be easier to act happy for her sake if he was a little tipsy. Ryan found Marissa in a corner looking around the room, presumably for him.

"Hey," he said as he walked up from behind and tapped her shoulder.
"Oh!" she let out a short scream, then laughed when she saw it was Ryan. "You scared me," she said smiling.
Ryan stepped back and looked at Marissa. She was wearing a long beautiful light pink dress and had her hair swept back in elegant waves. "You look . . uh . . you look great," he finally got the words out.
"Thank you," she said blushing. She looked out at the dance floor and noticed that people had begun to dance. She knew Ryan hated to dance, so she didn't even bother to ask.
But he saw her looking and he knew she liked to dance. "Do you want to? .. Dance?" he asked hesitantly.
"Are you sure?"
"Uh," he looked out at the other couples dancing, "Yeah, let's do it."
"Okay," she said as he grabbed her by the hand and led her out to the dance floor.

The song that was playing ended and a slow song came on. Ryan pulled Marissa in closer and wrapped one arm around her back and held her hand with the other. They danced against each other for the whole song, and when another fast song took over the speakers, they continued to hold each other and move slowly. They had finally made love, and to them, there was no one else in the huge ballroom.