Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Sad, but true.

Author's Note: Ok, so this is something that Lori (newportbabe44) came up with. But didn't want to write, so I did… It's AU. Set in after "The Gamble", but before "The Debut". So, Ryan is securely living with the Cohens… Most of this you'll probably pick up on in this chapter but… Marissa is brand new to Newport. And so, when Summer came on to Ryan, there was nothing else for him, so, they got together. And Seth, while jealous, got together with Anna. Oh, and Summer and Luke were a couple. More background info will come along, as the story progresses…

-Secrets Tangle Into Pain-

Ryan Atwood sat on a wicker lounge chair, facing out, with his girlfriend, Summer Roberts, nuzzled safely in his arms. They were looking out. Jaded by the vast ocean in front of them. They were startled from their daydreams by the sound of a trunk and people's voices next door. They looked down to see a girl, who looked to be about their age, carrying a box into the big green doors of the neighboring house. She had medium length sandy blonde hair. Like Ryan's. And bright blue eyes that were visible from Ryan and Summer's position.

"She's pretty, " Summer commented.

"Yeah," Ryan responded. He had a large vocabulary, but was a man of few words. Summer cleared her throat, obviously awaiting a "but" or something. "But not as pretty as you," he finished.
"Chino, we should go say hi, introduce ourselves."

"Yeah, sure." Summer maneuvered her way off the lounger and Ryan followed.

Marissa Cooper walked out of her house to find that there were two teenagers, 16, by the looks of it, in her driveway. One was a short girl with dark brown hair, and the other, the other was a guy, about an inch taller than her, with piercing blue eyes.
"Hi, I'm Summer. And this is Ch... Ryan."

"I'm Marissa. This is my house."

"It used to be mine, too," Summer said, harshly. "But, um, Ryan and I, he lives next door," She pointed, "we just came to say hi. Maybe, you come over? You can meet Ryan's brother, Seth."

"Yeah, Summer, I'm glad you asked first," Ryan said, taking a lesson from Seth, very sarcastically.

"Whatevs, Chino. You and Cohen already have company over."

"Right. Marissa, you can come over if you want to."

"Yeah, sure. That'd be cool. Let me just ask my parents," She said as her mother, Julie, came out. Julie had vivid red hair, and Marissa's blue eyes.

"Marissa, I thought I told you! Just let the movers do it."

"Uh, Mom, this is Summer, and this is Ryan. They just asked me over, can I go?"

"Over where?"

"Just next door," She said, pointing.
"Sure, honey. Just be back in about 10 minutes."

"Ok. Let's go." She said, following Summer and Ryan out of the driveway.

Seth Cohen sat in his living room, Playstation 2 control in hand, thumb clicking fast at the buttons. His girlfriend, Anna Stern sat next to him, watching him.

"Oh, Anna! And that is me kicking ass at Tony Hawk Pro Skater!"

"Yeah, go Seth!" She mocked. "Let's see you do that in real life."

"Anna. I'd break something. And then what good would I be?"

"As if you're any good as it is, Cohen," Summer commented as she walked in, with Ryan and Marissa. "Cohen, meet Marissa, uh, what's your last name?"

"Cooper."

"Marissa Cooper, she's moving in to my... next door." The mess of brown curls turned to reveal a face staring at her with brown eyes.

"Hi," he said, and gave a nonchalant wave.

"You're brothers?" She asked, wondering how two guys that looked so different could be related.

"Very fraternal twins," he lied, hoping Ryan, Anna, and Summer would understand the not-wanting-to-explain-it-so-soon thing. "Ryan got Dad's eyes and Mom's hair. I got Dad's hair, and the Nana's eyes."

"Right," She said, assuming that she would get it once she met the parents.

"Hi, I'm Anna," Anna introduced herself, as, obviously, no one was going to do it for her.

"Oh, hi."

"So, um, Coop. We're, well, my friend, Holly's having a party later, you should come. If you, you know, like, don't have any plans."

"Yeah, sure," Marissa said, surprised that she was already making friends. "That'd be cool. But uh, 'Coop'?"

"Uh, yeah, it's a nickname."

"She gives them to just about everyone. Well, she says she gives them to the people she likes, but who knows if that's the truth. I'm 'Cohen', Ryan's 'Chino', and Anna's 'Tinkerbell'"

"Ok, Tinkerbell I get, but Cohen? And Chino?"

"Oh, um, long stories for both of them," Seth tried to explain.

"Right, well, I gotta go. I think my ten minutes are diminishing. So, uh, I'll see you at this party?"

"Yeah, Coop, I'll come get you at like 9?"

"Sure, sounds good, see you then!" Marissa said, turning to leave.

"Bye, Marissa!" Seth called with Anna and Ryan calling similar, "Bye!"s.

"See ya, Coop."

Well, that went well, I think. Marissa thought.

Author's Note: So, that was the first chapter. Hopefully you liked it. If not, I don't think there's anything I can do about that. I know it wasn't the most exciting chapter ever, but please leave me a review, so I know what you thought. Think? Ok, I don't know… And I just realized that the title sounds kinda dark, and I don't think this story is going to be really dark. Maybe I'll come up with something better later. But I don't know, I kinda like what I have… Thanks for reading!