A few days after the chaotic Chrismukkah, Ryan lied on his bed, trying to make sense of everything. Lindsay was his foster mother's sister, so sort of his aunt, though not by blood. Still, they belonged to the same family. Were they together? If they were, what if they broke up? Did Lindsay even want to be with him anymore? And regardless of their romantic relationship or lack thereof, they would still be lab partners for the rest of the year.

The door swung open, breaking Ryan from his thoughts. "Morning, Ryan. Or should I say…Uncle Ryan?"

Ryan gave Seth a confused and disgusted look. "Uncle?"

"Well, Lindsay is my aunt, Lindsay is your girlfriend, so if that works out…" Seth sat down beside Ryan and threw an arm around his shoulder, "Welcome to the family once again, Uncle Ryan."

Ryan groaned and shrugged Seth's arm off. "That's disgusting."

"That's true, but it's our family. The Cohen-Nichol-Cooper-Gardners...or something like that. Wait, I'm not related to Summer, am I?"

Ryan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Don't think so. Not yet anyway."

Seth nodded. "But you my friend, not only are you dating my aunt, your ex-girlfriend is my step-aunt. Are you gonna go after Hailey next?"

Ryan shrugged. "She is pretty hot."

Seth smacked the back of his head. "Dude, that's gross."

Ryan laughed at Seth's expression. "Kidding. She's the only one who actually feels like my aunt. That would be weird."

"So what are you and Lindsay right now? Are you guys together, or just friends, or 'lab partners' or spank buddies…?"

Ryan shrugged. "Not sure."

"Do you still want to see her naked?"

Ryan's first instinct was to glare at him or smack him, but instead he opted to play the incest card. "Seth, you're talking about your aunt."

Seth choked and dramatically gagged, then abruptly stopped and turned to Ryan. "I'll take that as a yes."

Ryan threw a pillow as Seth got up to leave the room, but his bright, embarrassed smile was a dead give away.

"I think I'm gonna go play some Halo. Join me if you feel so inclined."

Ryan nodded, but decided to stay in his room and try and sort things out in his mind. He picked up the phone, debating about whether or not he should call Lindsay. As much as he wanted to talk to her, he thought that giving her space would be the best option. She'd talk to him when she was ready. Right?

In the meantime, a walk down to the pier seemed like the way to go. He stood looking out over the water and let his mind wander. He thought about his father going to prison, his mother leaving him, when he first came to live with the Cohens, and when he'd first felt like he could actually make something of himself. He thought of Theresa and wondered how she and her mother were doing. He thought of the baby they'd lost and though it broke his heart, he had to admit he was glad he was able to come home. He'd missed his friends, his family, and had he stayed in Chino, he never would have met Lindsay.

"Brooding again?" a very feminine voice asked from behind Ryan. She took a step to lean against the edge beside him.

"Summer," he said with a smile, and without thinking about what he was doing, he reached out to hug her.

"Good to see you too Chino. Everything okay?" She certainly didn't mind being hugged by him, in fact, she was touched by the gesture, but she was a bit confused. "How's Lindsay?"

He stepped back and his expression immediately fell. "I don't really know."

"Have you talked to her since Chrismukkah?"

"No," he paused in thought for a moment. "Thank you for doing what you did with the lights and the tree and the Cohens and all that. You guys really didn't have to do that."

"I know," she replied with a smile. "But we wanted to."

Ryan noted the fact that she had said we rather than I. Marissa had surprised him over the last few months. He never thought that they could truly be just friends, but it was beginning to look like that was just what they were.

"Are you going to call her soon?" Summer prodded.

"I don't know if I should. She's going through a lot and since she just found out she's part of the Cohens' family, and I'm part of that family, I figured I should give her some space."

Summer nodded, seeing how torn and worried Ryan was. "What if I call her?"

Ryan looked at her strangely.

"You know, see if she wants to hang out. We'll have a girl's night. Me, her, and Coop."

"Really? Do you think Marissa would be okay with that?"

Summer shrugged slightly, then nodded. "She cares about you, and you care about Lindsay. Besides, she's her step-sister."

Ryan smiled. "I care about her too. She knows that, right? I mean, Lindsay's my girlfriend…maybe, hopefully…but I still love Marissa. Just not in the same way that I used to."

"I think she knows," Summer replied, debating about whether she should say anything else. "I think she feels the same way about you."

Ryan's smile assured her that telling him was a good thing. "Thanks." He stood there awkwardly for a moment. "So you and Seth seem to be doing the friends thing pretty well too."

Summer brightened at the mention of Seth's name, but fell slightly when he said "friends." "Yeah, it's been really fun hanging out with you guys. I think he's really changing."

"Maybe. Or maybe you're realizing that you've loved him, self-centeredness and all, all along. You just needed time to forgive him."

Summer rolled her eyes. "I'm with Zach. Seth was my first love, but now he's just my friend."

Ryan held back laughter. "Uh huh." He chuckled softly.

"Chino!"

"Don't worry, I won't tell him."

She sighed, resigning to the fact that yet another person could plainly see her love for Seth which she'd desperately been trying to hide.

"He loves you too, you know."

Her face lit up as she turned to him. "He does? What about that girl…Alex?"

"She seems cool to me. She distracts him. They're pretty good friends. He's having fun hanging out with her. And yeah, she's attractive…"

"Okay, not helping Chino!"

"But she's not you."

"Oh," she replied softly.

"Just like Zach isn't Seth."

Summer looked up at him, the realization hitting her hard. She liked Zach, really she did, but ever since Seth kissed her at the concert, she'd known that Zach wasn't the one for her, and it was quite possible that Seth Cohen was.

"I have to head back. See you later?"

"Yeah…thanks Chino. It was good to talk to you."

He gave her one last reassuring and grateful smile. "You too."