Disclaimer: I don't own the O.C. or any of the characters in it.

Note: Once again, thank you for the feedback. It's is very much appreciated. I haven't decided for sure if I want to bring back a couple other characters from last season, so if you guys could give me your opinions on that, that would be awesome.

Seth opened the door to the pool house and snuck up behind Ryan who was napping peacefully on the bed. He leaned down so his mouth was beside Ryan's ear. "RYAN!"

Ryan only rolled over, putting a pillow over his head as he mumbled, "Go away, Seth."

Seth sighed, tapping his foot impatiently. "If you don't get up now, I'll be forced to introduce you to the twins ambassadors of pain." Ryan didn't show any sign that he'd heard him.

"Chino, you better get your ass up, or I'll have to drop the Great Gatsby."

A slightly groggy Ryan looked over to find Luke standing in the doorway. "Hey man, what's up?" He stood up to greet him with a manly hug. "How are things in Portland?"

"Still no water polo team, but it's good. I've met some cool people, I'm starting to fit in. It's cool. What's been going on with you guys? Are you and Marissa back together?"

"No, uh, actually we're back to being friends."

Luke almost laughed outloud. "You and Marissa were never friends."

"No, it's better this way," Ryan said with a smile. "She's with someone else."

"Oh, that's harsh. Sorry Chino."

"No, really it's okay-"

"He wants to nail my aunt," Seth added, receiving a glare from Ryan.

"Hailey?" Luke asked, wide-eyed. "When I went for an older woman, I should've gone for her instead of Julie. Julie's hot and all, but Hailey-"

"Not Hailey," Ryan clarified. "Lindsay. She's not an older woman, she's a year younger than me."

"Lindsay…" Luke stared at Ryan blankly.

"Grandpa's illegitimate love child," Seth replied casually.

At the mention of Caleb, Luke's expression turned to disgust. "You're dating Caleb's daughter?"

"Yeah. I didn't know she was when I met her. Neither did she. We're lab partners in physics. Anyway, besides her mom and Caleb, no one knew until Chrismukkah."

"So that's when the shit hit the fan?" Luke asked.

"Actually, it was more like the vase hit Grandpa's head…except it didn't. It was a Chrismukkah to remember."

"So Seth, did you and Summer work things out?"

"Negative. We're friends. Kind of. She's with some jock, Zack."

"Oh, the guy on the water polo team?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "That would be him. As much as I want to hate the guy, I can't. If he wasn't dating Summer, I'd love him."

"If you want to improve your friendship with Summer, make friends with Zack," Luke suggested.

"That's a very interesting theory, but-" Seth started.

"You guys won't get into a fight, will you?" Luke asked.

"Nah, I'm more of a lover than a fighter. Zack did hit me once, but Alex and Summer got there before I could bring the hurt."

"He hit you? I don't remember him ever getting in a fight before." Seth just shrugged. "Are you guys cool now?"

"I haven't talked to him since the SnO.C, but I think I owe him an apology for that. Well not really. Since he hit me, I think we're kind of even, but it couldn't hurt things with Summer."

"Mind if I call him? I'd kind of like to see him anyway."

"Sure. Embrace the friend."

Lindsay heard the water running in Summer's bathroom, so with a quick knock on the door she walked in, expecting to find Marissa fixing her hair, washing her face, or something like that. She didn't expect to find her hanging over the toilet with a toothbrush in her hand. "Oh gosh, Marissa, I'm so…what are you doing?"

Marissa didn't answer, but it wasn't rocket science. Tears streamed down her flawless face and Lindsay kneeled beside her. "Why would you do this?"

The girls locked eyes, and Marissa's eyes frightened Lindsay a bit. "Why not?"

"Because it's not good for you. And you certainly don't need to lose any weight. If anything, you need to gain some."

"It's my body."

Lindsay looked at the floor for a moment, trying to process all this. "That's true. But you have lots of people who love and care about you that would hate to see you doing this to yourself."

Marissa laughed bitterly. "Yeah, right."

"Summer. Ryan. Your dad. Your mom; even though she can be really controlling and..."

"A bitch?" Marissa supplied.

"Right. But she loves you. And of course DJ."

"I'm starting to have really mixed feelings about DJ. Summer has her boy issues, Ryan and I aren't together, my dad…well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him, and upsetting my mom is a bonus in any situation."

"I don't know much about your parents, but I know you mean a lot to Summer. She's just distracted right now. Even though you and Ryan are broken up, he still cares a lot about you."

Marissa brightened a little bit. Maybe she and Ryan really could make this friends thing work. She offered Lindsay a small smile. "I guess you're right." Determined to change the subject, she added, "Plus, I do have a step-sister that I'd really like to get to know."

When Zack arrived at the Cohen's house he wasn't sure what to expect. He'd decided to go because he wanted to see Luke. He also knew that it would help his relationship with Summer if he could befriend Seth, because if by some miracle she wasn't still in love with him, she did care about him.

Zack was relieved when Luke answered the door. "Z-Man! Long time, no see!"

Seth and Ryan stood back and watched as they did some weird handshake and when Zack looked up at Seth an awkwardness hung in the air. "Hey Cohen."

"Hey Zack."

Ryan felt extremely uncomfortable and looked to Luke for help. "So guys, we playstationing it?"

"Yeah," Seth and Zack said, both looking very relieved. Ryan and Luke sat on the couch, Seth plopped down on the floor, and Zack sat in a chair off to the side, sliding it so he could see the screen better.

"Okay, what's it going to be?" Seth asked, looking through the games. "Ninjas, pirates, a little GTA?"

"Cohen, you don't have any sports games?"

Seth turned and looked at Luke like he was crazy. "Did I not spend the entire summer with you, refusing to get involved in sports?"

"Ninjas it is."

She checked her watch for the twelfth time in a half an hour, then looked out the window beside her. She saw nothing but the vast ocean, but the plane would be landing soon. Thankful that her destination was on the West Coast, she closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep, imagining she was already home. It wasn't until the plane touched down that she was pulled from her light slumber.

"XOXO, it's an unbeatable combination!" Seth narrated, as he and Zack duked it out in the Ninjas' world.

"Unless…" Zack started, quickly pressing a complex series of buttons. "I do that." The music coming from the TV hailed Zack as the champion.

Seth stared at him, wide-eyed. "That was awesome."

"I could show you how to do it."

"Sweet, then maybe I can finally beat Ryan again."

Ryan laughed. "I'm going to go grab a soda. Anyone else want one?"

Seth and Zack both replied that they did, but the were already talking about the video game again. Luke got up and followed Ryan into the kitchen. "Do you guys have anything good to eat?"

When Zack and Seth realized that the other two had left the room, they fell silent. Seth decided that if he was going to apologize, now was the time. "Look um…" Seth stuttered unsure of what to say, but knowing he had a lot to say. It was rare for Seth to be serious, but when it came to Summer, he could definitely be serious. Ryan and Luke appeared in the doorway and stared at him expectantly. "Could we talk outside?"

"Sure," Zack replied, a bit confused, but he followed him. Ryan and Luke shrugged at each other and headed for the Playstation. Silence hung in the air outside while Seth tried to make sense of the thoughts running through his head.

"Look Zack, um…I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the whole SnO.C. debacle. It's just that Ryan and Marissa were going as friends, and Ryan made me come and Marissa made Summer come, but neither of them knew it, and then Summer and I were just sort of stuck with each other."

"It's okay," Zack said trying to convince himself as much as Seth. "You guys mean a lot to each other, but that doesn't mean there's anything going on. I get that. Sometimes I just freak out."

"Well," Seth hesitated. "If it makes you feel any better, I do that all the time."

"Alex's ex?"

"Um…no. Alex is hot and fun and all, but…" Seth couldn't come up with any way to word what he wanted to say other than to just say it. "She's not Summer."

"Oh." Zack smiled sadly. He looked deep in thought for a few moments before he spoke again. "The first girl I loved broke up with me for another guy," he said slowly. "And they say that you never really get over your first love."

Seth looked at him, puzzled, unsure of where this was going.

"But for me, that wasn't true." He took a deep breath, not believing what he was about to say. "I really like Summer, but I think it's time for me to bow out."

"What? What do you mean? Why?" Inside, Seth was feeling a lot of conflicting emotions. Wasn't this what he'd wanted all along?

"You're still in love with her, and I'm pretty sure she's still in love with you too. If you two can still love each other after all you've gone through, I don't want to stand in the way of that."

"Zack…" Seth's heart was racing. Sure he'd wanted Summer and Zack to break up, but he didn't want to see Summer cry and know that it was because of him...again. Also, he was afraid it would look to Summer like he'd tried to talk Zack into breaking up with her. "I do love Summer, but I had my chance with her and I screwed it up. She deserves to be with someone who isn't self-centered and doesn't take her for granted. I'm lucky that she's willing to try to be friends with me, and that's all she sees me as."

Zack looked at Seth and offered him a small smile. "I guess we'll find out sooner or later."