Disclaimer: I am not entitled to any of the OC-ers. That would be like soo cool, though.

Author's Note: Sorry if that last one was confusing. It made sense to me, but then again, I know what's supposed to be happening. lol. Yes, Marissa is pregnant. And, yes, Seth and Summer will be in this story. Just, not yet… And, to A: yeah, I'm making it like Gossip Girl on purpose ;).

the latest thing l doesn't have

Across the beach, Lindsay walked barefoot on the hot sand. She held her strappy heels in one hand and a lollipop in the other, just walking along, minding her own business.

"Heads!" one of the volleyball players called to the field of tanning girls. Lindsay mistook the call to be for her and looked behind her. Big Mistake.

She spotted her two best friends devouring the other's face. Then, her green-blue eyes spotted a speck fall from Ryan's hand onto a rock below. She just sighed, thinking they looked like an advertisement for: horny teens, horny pregnant teens, and true love. Though she had known for a long time that the pair was, and always would be that, a pair, it always slightly surprised her when they got back together so rapidly. And, no matter how often she'd seen them kiss, it always slightly bothered her to see her lab partner/nephew attack her stepsister's face like that. She couldn't understand why they couldn't wait to be in private. Why they couldn't save their dignity. But she knew she was just jealous. Because she wished she could understand. She wished she had love like that. She wished she could just buy it. As, ever since her induction into the Nichol family, she could buy almost anything her heart desired. Except love, of course.

And whenever she saw Ryan and Marissa kissing like that. Or kissing like that in public. She remembered when Ryan told her he wasn't a big fan of the PDA. And she remembered when she had realized why he had said that. When she had found out about his and Marissa's relationship, then found out that the duo kissed all the time. Because he loved Marissa the way he could never love anyone else. Or loves, Lindsay mentally corrected herself. She remembered how crushed she felt after coming to that realization.

Not that boys hadn't flocked to her. There was Paolo, the Italian painter, who serenaded her on a gondola in Venice; Leo, the English lord, who wanted her to elope with him to the carribean; Charlie, who kissed her the whole way up the Eiffel Tower… And that was just the little tour of Europe she took with Marissa the summer before. Then there was Jesse, on the slopes of Tahoe during Winter Break; Parker, the Hawaiian surfer from her Spring Break; Brad, the Water Polo player who'd hit on her at lunch. And Ryan Atwood, the boy she almost lost her virginity to, and the one she'd love forever. But just as a friend, and aunt.

Yes, Lindsay Gardner, or Lindsay Nichol, as people had started to call her about a year before, had become more of a boy magnet than ever since her senior year at Harbor. She didn't know why, either. And the thought continued to plague her thoughts. Sure, she had started to combine her and Marissa's fashion senses, but she didn't think that was a very good excuse.

Still, she had never experienced the kind of love Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper shared.

She tossed the remnants of her lollipop into a trash can as she came to the paved boardwalk and decided to walk towards the pair, heels clicking as she quickened her pace.

As she drew closer to the couple, heads turned, staring at her, or maybe Ryan and Marissa… Most likely her. Because she was Lindsay, Lindsay, Lindsay, everything the boys ever wanted.

Not that they'd ever talk to her and the short skirt she was wearing, that was being slightly blown up in the back by the wind. She was Ryan's aunt, and friend, and if the boys hurt her in any way, shape, or form… He might find them, and beat their ass in. If he could turn his attention away from Marissa's lips long enough, that is.

"Why don't you guys just go to the pool house?" she joked as she reached them.

Ryan and Marissa turned their heads to look at her with dazed, happy expressions on their faces.

"Did you talk to Seth?" she asked Marissa.

"Yeah," Marissa replied, nodding, "but not for very long, because Ryan was staring at me the whole time."

"No I wasn't!" Ryan protested.

"Ok, Ry," Marissa soothed.

"Yeah, I was," Ryan confessed. He was, and forever would be, whipped when he was around Marissa. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"Anyway," Lindsay moved the conversation, "You're not stressing too much? I mean, it can't be good for my little niece or nephew."

Marissa laughed, "No." It was funny how close they had become. Closer than Marissa was with Kaitlin, her full sister. And almost as close as she was with Summer. "No, I'm not. But have you heard anything yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Poo, I'm really hoping for Yale."

"Yeah, me too." The girls laughed, realizing they had rhymed. "Anyway, I'm gonna be late for my pedicure. So, see you two for dinner at the.. Cohens'?"

"Yeah," she said before hugging Lindsay.

"Bye."

Lindsay walked off, and as soon as Ryan and Marissa deemed her far enough away, they returned to their make out session.

Author's Note: Whoa, that was a lot longer than the past chapters… Hmm… Anyway, hope it wasn't too confusing, and that this cleared up some questions. Leave me a review on your way out!

Peace & Love…