"The Tension"

Note: I don't own The O.C. (cause I'm sure you were wondering lol) or any of its characters.
I'm having such a hard time with this formatting - I don't know why it has to be so difficult, but whatever. Sorry about the funny dots everywhere. Grrr.
Summary: Ryan and Marissa have a hard time connecting and Seth plots and plans... Hope you like! Please review.
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Ryan heard two women's voices in the hallway and popped his head out the door to see what was going on.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cohen," Summer said taking a towel from Kirsten.

Ryan quickly pulled back into his room, shocked.

He picked up his phone to call Marissa, then set it back down. She probably didn't want to hear from him right now, he thought. Then again, she'd really want to know about this. He dialed the number and sat down on his bed, peeking out the door again.

"Hello?" Marissa answered.

"Hey, it's me," Ryan said and waited for her response.

"Yeah, I know," she said abruptly. "Caller ID. What do you want?"

"I just – I thought you should know…" he lost his train of thought, thinking about how displeased she sounded.

"What?" Marissa demanded.

"Uh – uh, Summer," he said, trying to put together a coherent sentence. "Summer's here."

"What? Summer's there? Where? At the Cohens'?" Marissa's voice was quick and eager.

"Yeah, I just saw her with Kirsten."

"Oh my God! Well, I should – I should come over then," she half-stated and half-asked.

"Yeah, no, definitely. You should."

They hung up, and Ryan glanced out into the hallway again to see if he could tell what was going on.
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Julie sat across from Caleb silently. She didn't know what to say to him. She was still angry, but beginning to understand his underhanded way of accomplishing things.

"Julie, I love you. I asked you to be my wife, and I meant it. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want you to be happy. One day you will understand my logic."

Julie nodded, and stood up to leave.

"Where are you going now?" Caleb asked, dreading her answer. If she was still going to see an attorney, he thought, he would end up an old, lonely, penniless man.

"Home," she said softly, almost smiling back at him as she walked out of his office.
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.Seth was standing in the hallway when Ryan came out this time.

"Hey, man, what's going on?" He asked Seth.

"Uh, nothing," he said, obviously trying to hide something. "Summer came back and she's taking a shower…"

Ryan nodded at the incomplete answer.

"Just, you know…waiting for the bathroom," Seth said without looking away from the bathroom door.

Ryan looked down the hall both ways and raised one eyebrow. "There's like, two other bathrooms on this floor, man."

"Yeah, I know," Seth said. "I just – I like this one. It's got the cool….lighting."

Ryan looked confused but nodded anyway.

"So I called Marissa, told her Summer was here," Ryan told Seth.

"You did what?" Seth said, finally turning toward Ryan. "Oh, God, Marissa's gonna be here? She's gonna make such a huge deal, I'll never get Summer alone to tell her….nevermind, man. Forget about it."

Ryan headed downstairs to find someone who made more sense than Seth, and Seth continued waiting intently outside the bathroom Summer was showering in. He had to talk to her first, to tell her about his plan.

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Seth jumped when Summer opened the bathroom door. He had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity, and had started to drift off. Summer came out of the bathroom wearing only a towel and Seth's eyes widened.

"Trying to catch a glimpse?" Summer teased, giggling.

"Summer," Seth said standing up, "I have to talk to you." He looked at her for a moment and thought about what she had just said. "Well if you're offering…"

"Cohen!"

"Sorry, no, anyway, your dad called and told my dad he's coming for you in the morning." Seth looked at her, hoping she would be as upset as he was.

But she just sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "What can I do?"

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.Ryan wandered around the first floor of the house, listening to Sandy and Kirsten talk in whispers about Summer. He decided he would go see Theresa and ask if she knew anything about what was going on.

"Hi," she said when she opened the door.

"Hey. Can I come in?"

Theresa just nodded and let him in.

"Have you been in there lately?" Ryan asked her, referring to the main house where all the Summer drama was happening.

"No, why? Is everything okay?"

He raised an eyebrow at Theresa. "I don't know…Summer's in there…"

"She came back?"

"On a bus, I think. I don't think her dad knew."

"Wow," Theresa said, then looked at Ryan thoughtfully. "Remember being so crazy about someone you would do something like that?"

"Yeah," Ryan said, knowing she was talking about them when they were not much younger.

Samantha woke up and started cooing, and Ryan picked her up from her bassinet.

"She's so beautiful," he looked into the little girl's eyes.

"Yeah, she gets that from me," Theresa joked, and they both laughed.

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.Kirsten let Marissa in when she got to the Cohen house, and Marissa wanted to know where Summer was. When Kirsten told her Summer was upstairs in the bathroom, she asked about Ryan.

"I don't know, he was around here a minute ago. I think he might have gone out back."

"Thanks," Marissa said and made her way outside.

Seth pushed Summer back into the bathroom.

"I don't want you to leave," he told her honestly.

"I don't either."

"I have a plan…"

"Cohen, if this involves a model home, you better-"

"Shhhh," he hushed her, closing the bathroom door behind them.