Title: Prom Queen
Summary: A new guy comes to the OC from Australia and he's bound to rock the relationships. So who's going to end up his Prom date? Not for SethSummer lovers. Anna comes in a bit later. SummerNew Guy and a bit of SethAnna and the smallest portion of RyanMarissa.
Pairing: SummerTom, SethAnna, RyanMarissa
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the OC characters. I only own Tom and Tina.
Chapter 3: I'll fix him
(This takes place just after the Paris Hilton/LA episode…)
"Tom!" Tom turned around and saw Marissa jogging towards him. He stopped and smiled at her. Marissa caught up to him and said,
"I'm so sorry about earlier. I was acting so flirty and slutty. I'm really ashamed of myself." Tom smiled at her gently and lifted her chin up so that she looked at him,
"Hey, no need. I mean, I can read people like books and I knew that that wasn't you. Besides that," Tom's grin widened and he dropped his hand, "Anna told me about you. About how nice you are and everything." Marissa looked up at him with her wide brown eyes and asked,
"You know Anna?" Tom replied,
"Yeah, we've known each other for years. Because our parents knew each other before we were born so when we were young we met and hit it off. So we became pen pals and told each other every single detail in our lives. She had quite a bit to say about Newport." Tom grinned and added,
"And the social structure and the story behind who's with who." Marissa blushed as Tom looked at her and she remembered Ryan. Marissa turned her gaze down again as she remembered. Tom's face went serious and he asked,
"Do you love him?" Marissa looked up at him suddenly, as if swept up by the indecency of the question and then dropped her gaze again as she blushed,
"Uh, yeah, I guess." Tom turned his head to the side, he knew he'd gone too far but he also knew that Ryan Marissa belonged together from what Anna told him. He decided to change the conversation and said,
"But you know the strange thing is that Anna didn't tell me about Seth." Tom shot a sideways glance at Marissa and managed to catch her eye. Somehow he reminded her of Ryan. He managed to make her feel completely relaxed and made her feel as if, at times, she was with another version of Ryan who was more relaxed with his smiles. He was the sort of person that you couldn't hold at an arm's length even if you wanted to.
When Marissa didn't respond Tom didn't say anything. He just stood there and decided to say what he had on his mind. He would be a hypocrite if he didn't, he hated it when people felt like they couldn't be completely at ease and be able to say anything to him.
"You should tell him." Tom blurted out and felt stupid as Marissa looked at him accusingly. She sounded exasperated with slight tears,
"I have told him. I have. So many times. But he always just pushes me away…" Tom looked away and said,
"He's stupid. I'll fix him." Marissa looked at him, puzzled,
"What?" Tom turned to her with a hint of a smile on his face,
"I'll talk to him for you." Marissa's face was graced with a smile and a hint of a blush as she studied the ground and said quietly,
"Thanks." Tom lifted her chin up gently again and said,
"Hey, you so deserve it. He just has to see what's in front of him first." Marissa finally smiled a blinding smile as she looked up at him and they shared that moment. Both of them smiling brilliantly and feeling better.
"Marissa?" Tom heard the unsure voice from the side to him and he dropped his hand but couldn't help thinking about how much it looked like they were about to kiss. He turned and saw a guy standing there. He had hair that was blonde/brown and was getting to be slightly long. His eyes were dark and brooding but there was a touch of hurt in them. He guessed that this was Ryan. Or that there was some other guy who was involved with Marissa.
Marissa looked at Tom and he nodded for her to leave. He would be able to handle this. He saw that Ryan was about to start after her but Tom said,
"Ryan." Ryan turned to face him. His face had hardened and his eyes had lost their hurt quality. Ryan looked at him hostilely and asked,
"What?" Tom almost backed off and raised his hands in defence,
"I'm not going for your girl, man." Ryan looked at him and then rolled his eyes,
"She's not my girl." Ryan backed off and sat down on the brick wall behind him. Tom took this as a sign that he could come within a metre radius. He sat on the wall next to him and said,
"You guys would make a good couple." Tom said casually and studied Ryan's reaction intently. Ryan had a slight smile on his face but erased it quickly. Ryan turned to him and, when he did, there was no expression on his face. But his eyes had softened.
"You reckon?" Tom smiled at him and said,
"Yeah. And I'm not the only one who thinks that." Tom glanced over to Marissa who was talking to someone just across from the wall. Tom saw Ryan follow his gaze and saw him look at Marissa forlornly. Ryan looked at Marissa and Tom saw a look flit across his features. And at that moment he knew that he didn't need to tell Ryan this. Or even need to 'fix' Ryan. All he needed was a push in the right direction. Something Tom was happy to do.
"Really?" Ryan looked back at Tom, this time not hiding his slight smile. Tom nodded, happy at what he had accomplished, for the moment. Ryan had changed Newport bit by bit when he had arrived. Soon Tom hoped to do the same. They were the same person, fighting for the same cause. And they would be fighting together against the same enemy soon enough.
Tom looked at the building that was just behind Marissa and saw Seth go in. He knew there was one more thing he had to do. One more thing he had to change today. One more thing he had to prepare. Actually, one more person he had to prepare.
Tom pushed himself off the wall and saluted a goodbye to Ryan. Ryan nodded back to him and Tom walked in the direction of the student lounge. Time for stage two of changing Newport. Getting it ready for the return of Anna Stern.
(Anna's coming in the next chapter. And she and Seth will rekindle the chemistry that they 'never had'. Summer and Tom will rekindle some of their own chemistry and so will Marissa and Ryan.)