Note: I don't own the show, the characters, the lines, etc. The next chapter will probably be the last one, but I plan on doing a sequel to follow up with some of the characters. Thank you so much for the reviews!
Alex saw Marissa sitting in the kitchen, holding a small clear bottle, and watched as she emptied it into a glass of iced tea.
"Marissa?"
She whirled around, quickly shoving the empty bottle back into her purse. She relaxed some when she saw that it was Alex. "Hey."
"Rough night?"
"Rough life." Marissa moaned, feeling depressed.
Alex gave her a disbelieving look. "Right. It's not easy being a princess. Living in a palace."
Marissa stared at Alex with frustration. "You think that just because my step-dad is the richest man in Newport my life is easy?" she challenged. Alex's only reply was raising her eyebrows. "In the last year and a half, my dad went bankrupt, my parents got divorced, I caught my boyfriend cheating on me with one of my best friends, I ODed in Mexico, I got stalked by a psycho, I lost Ryan to his pregnant ex-girlfriend, my mom married Caleb Nichol, my little sister was sent off to boarding school, Caleb blackmailed me into living with him and my mom instead of my dad, and now my dad, the one thing keeping me sane, moved to Maui. And the psycho returned."
Alex didn't know what to say. "I didn't think-"
"No, you didn't think," Marissa interrupted. With one last glare, Marissa turned and walked away. Alex was about to go after her when she was stopped by Summer.
"Alex!"
She gritted her teeth and turned to the other Newport princess. "Yes?"
Summer didn't miss the annoyance in Alex's voice and it just about pushed her over the edge. "Where's Seth?"
"I figured he was with you."
Summer crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "Well he isn't. Where did you last see him?"
"I saw him go upstairs, but that was like an hour ago."
"Thanks." Summer stomped off and Alex wondered what Seth had done to piss her off like that.
Zach was sitting by himself. He knew he'd done the right thing, but that didn't mean he liked it. Summer had gone after Seth, like he knew she would.
"You looked like you could use some company."
Zach looked up to see Anna standing in front of him. "Anna, hey."
She sat down beside him. "What's with the long face?"
"Summer and I broke up."
Anna silently cheered, but her heart went out to Zach. "I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel."
"Huh?"
"A triangle is an unfriendly shape. Especially when you're in it with Seth and Summer...which I was, a year ago."
Zach smiled genuinely. "Really? You and Cohen?"
"We had a lot in common. We both love reading comic books, and we like the same music, but there just wasn't any chemistry."
"You like comic books?"
When Hailey came down the stairs, her eyes were slightly puffy, but she had calmed down some. She found Jimmy took his hand, putting on the brightest smile she could manage.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She smirked as she added, "But Dad might not be if he comes anywhere near me."
Jimmy gave her a quick kiss and when he looked up, he saw Caleb and Julie walking towards them. He gave Caleb a look that clearly said 'get the hell out of here,' but he pretended not to notice. "Hailey," he started, gently touching her arm.
She pulled away from him and whirled around to face him. "Don't touch me."
"I know that what I did was inexcusable, but I hope that one day you'll forgive me. You're my baby." Tears welled up in his eyes and for a moment, Hailey's heart softened. "And I love you so much."
Julie looked at Hailey like a tiger ready to pounce. "Actually, Lindsay's the youngest, so she's your baby girl, Cal."
"Juju!" he warned.
Marissa appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. "Hey Dad, can I-" She stopped as she realized she had just interrupted a really tense moment. She stepped back and as quickly as she appeared, Julie forgot she was there.
Hailey was on the verge of tears and Julie loved it. "Don't worry, Sweetie. You're still your mother's baby girl, may she rest in peace. At least she didn't have to be here to find out that her husband had an affair while she was lying in a hospital bed."
The mention of her mother pushed Hailey over the edge. She threw her glass of wine onto Caleb's white tuxedo and threw the glass against the wall. "You son of a bitch!" she screamed. She lunged at him while Jimmy tried to hold her back.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, Cal."
He was about to respond, but Marissa beat him to the punch. "Please. It's not like you've never cheated on one of your husbands."
Caleb looked away from his daughter and to his wife. "You're mad that I cheated on my wife, when you did the same thing to Jimmy?"
"Of course not," Marissa replied. "Dad wasn't the one she cheated on."
Caleb's eyes widened. "Is this true?"
"You cheated on my dad," Hailey stated with a small smile.
"I'm sorry, Cal. It's just that Jimmy and I-"
"Jimmy?" Caleb and Hailey asked together, turning to look at him.
He looked like a deer caught in headlights as Hailey turned and walked away from him. "Hailey, wait! Let me explain."
Seth was lying on his bed, being consoled by Captain Oats. "I think you're right. Alex and I just aren't meant to be." There was a forceful knock on his door. "I'll be down in a minute," he called, hoping to deter anyone from coming in and talking to him.
He jumped when the door flew open and Summer stormed in. "What are you doing in here?" she demanded with her hands placed firmly on her hips.
"I didn't really feel like being at a party right now."
"Well Alex is probably looking for you."
Seth didn't even try to hide the bitterness in his voice. "I doubt it. She dumped me. Why aren't you down there with Zach?"
Seeing the pain in his eyes made it harder for her stay mad at him. "Zach and I aren't together anymore."
Seth quickly sat up. "What? Why? What happened?"
"What do you think?" She paused, half expecting him to make some sarcastic remark, but his expression remained blank. "You happened, you idiot!"
"What did I do?"
"You made me fall in love with you and then you left! That's what you did!" Oh I did not just say I fell in love with him...did I?
Now Seth's mind was spinning. "What does that have to do with you and Zach?"
He hadn't pulled her close and told her he loved her too, he just stood towering in front of her. She sighed sadly. "Forget it."
She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him. "Wait." This time his eyes were pleading. When he saw the tears running down her cheeks, he went to wipe them away, but she swatted at his hand.
"Just tell me why, Seth," she requested softly.
"Why what?" He couldn't seem to follow what she was saying at all. He couldn't even follow his own thought process, so understanding her's was out of the question.
"Why you just left like that last summer."
"I left because I didn't want to go back to life in Newport without Ryan."
"So Ryan is the only one here you actually care about?" She stepped back, angrily crossing her arms over her chest.
"No. Ryan is the only one who cares about me."
"You think that no one in Newport, besides Ryan cared about you?"
He shrugged. "My parents. Maybe my grandpa...maybe."
"After everything we went through last year, how could you think that?"
"I've known you since kindergarten. That's about 12 years. You've ignored me for 11 of those years. When Ryan came, I became a whole new person, and you liked him. Not me."
"I did like you. He is you! Ryan didn't change you he just gave you the confidence to be who you were all along!"
Seth didn't want to admit it, but he knew she was right. "Yeah, well, you must not have liked me very much if you moved on right after I left."
At this point, Summer was beyond angry. "You think I hooked up with Zach because I didn't really like you?" She shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously. "I hooked up with Zach so that I could stop thinking about you. So that maybe I could get over you and fall in love with someone else."
"So you love him."
"No, you jackass! I wish I did, but unfortunately, I'm stuck loving you!" Once the words were out, Summer wanted to take them back. She hadn't meant to be this honest with him or even with herself.
Seth studied her. "It's not exactly a picnic loving you either."
Journey's Faithfully played softly on the speakers of Ryan's stereo as he and Lindsay were quietly lying together. Her head rested on his shoulder and her fingers traced circles on his chest. Ryan watched her with a content smile on his face.
"This year has been crazy," she muttered softly.
Chuckling softly, Ryan nodded in agreement. "But it's been good."
She looked up at him adoringly and nodded. "Where do you think we'll be a year from now?"
"You'll be at Yale," he stated firmly, trying not to sound upset. "And I'll be wherever I can get a scholarship."
She wondered how she had managed to forget that they would be going their separate ways next fall. "Where do you want to go?"
He shrugged. "I guess I haven't really thought about it."
"Where did you apply?"
"UCLA...Berkeley...Cal State...Duke...NYU...Texas...and a few others that Seth insisted I apply to. Did you apply anywhere besides Yale?"
"Yeah, some schools around here." They sat in silence for a few moments. They hadn't been together long enough to consider changing their plans for each other, had they? She'd go to Yale, he'd go wherever, and they'd see each other at Christmas, because she was part of his family.
"We're here now," Ryan whispered, his breath tickling her ear. "Oh! I almost forgot." He rolled off to the bed and walked over the kitchen. He opened up the refrigerator and pulled out a tall bottle, smiling widely.
"Ryan Atwood, are you going to try to get me drunk?" she teased, walking to the counter as he pulled out two wineglasses.
He wiggled his eyebrows playfully. "Maybe." He turned the bottle to face her and pointed at the label.
"Sparkling grape juice. Nice."
He poured the glasses and passed one to her. They raised them together. "To being more than lab partners," Ryan toasted.
"And definitely not related."
They clinked their glasses and each took a sip. Ryan walked around the counter and sat back down on the bed. Lindsay wasn't sure if it was the grape juice or the way Ryan was looking at her, but suddenly her knees felt extremely weak. She carefully set the glass back on the counter and managed to walk to him. His hands each rested on her waist for a moment before roaming and testing the feel of her feminine curves. At first she tensed at his touch, but soon she relaxed against his hands. He kept his eyes locked on hers and she was finding it very difficult to move.
After a moment that seemed to go on for hours, she decided to take control of the situation. She pushed his shoulders back so he was lying down on the bed, then kneeled above him, as her fingers nimbly undoing the buttons on his shirt. She kissed him slowly and deliberately, running her hands over his body as a small gasp escaped his lips. "Objects in motion-"
"Stay in motion," he finished.
Anna opened the door and gasped at what she saw before shutting the door again. "Zach, I thought you said they were in the house!"
"They were!"
Anna reopened the door, this time shielding her eyes with her hand. "Ryan, you should really start locking this door!"
Keeping his eyes tightly shut, Zach added, "Sorry."
After the door closed Ryan and Lindsay looked at each other, both frustrated and embarrassed. "Until acted on by an outside force," they said together.
Hailey stood away from Jimmy with her arms crossed over her chest. "Let me guess. You were going to tell me that you're having an affair with her, but it just slipped your mind."
"No, it's over. It ended yesterday morning before you came."
"Yesterday? So you slept with me and Julie Cooper within two days?"
Jimmy ran his hands over his face and through his hair. "It was a huge mistake." He stepped forward and took her hand. Surprisingly, she didn't pull away. "After you left, I was a mess. I don't know how things got to the point they did with Julie, but I do know that you're the one I want to be with for the rest of my life."