"Hey," Summer approached Ryan, Lindsay and Nathan, "Have you guys seen Coop?"
"Coop?" Nathan asked, "Who's that?"
"Marisa," Ryan translated before shaking his head. "I haven't seen her for awhile, maybe an hour? I thought she was with you."
"I was out with Zach and we ran into Seth and skanky hoe, Brooke," Summer bit her lip and turned to Nathan, "Sorry. But anyway other than that I haven't seen Coop and Zach and I were going to head back to the hotel and we wanted to see if Coop wanted to come, but now I can't find her anywhere."
"Do you think she's okay?" Ryan questioned, "She seemed fine earlier."
"You never know with her," Summer shrugged.
"We'll just split up and look for her," Lindsay stated logically.
"Did I miss something?" Nathan inquired, "I mean I'm sure she's here somewhere." Before any of them could respond Haley appeared, slipping an arm around Nathan's waist.
"Have you seen Luke?" Haley asked, leaning against him.
"I'm sure he'll be here," Nathan assured his wife as he shook his head.
"We've got to find Marissa," Ryan reminded them, "We'll catch up with you guyslater." He then proceeded to drag Lindsay off in the opposite direction. 15 minutes after the start of their search still left the trio without any sign of Marissa, leaving Peyton as their only resort.
"Hey guys," Peyton greeted, "Having a good time?"
"Great time," Summer mumbled quickly, "Have you seen Coop, I mean Marissa?"
"No, sorry, you guys taking off?" Peyton questioned, a little disappointed.
"Maybe," Ryan responded with determination, "We have to find Marissa though."
"Last I saw her she was headed for the bathroom," Peyton added, folding her arms against her chest.
"I checked there," Summer sighed despondently as Zach rubbed her shoulder.
"I'll help you look," Peyton offered with a helpful smile.
"Thanks Peyton," Summer stated as they weaved through the club, "When Marissa's missing it's never a good thing."
"That's the store room," Peyton gestured to a door near the back of the club. She mad her way towards it with the other four teens in tow. "Is she okay? Marissa I mean?"
"Coop just tends to be kind of..." Summer began, trying to choose her words. As Peyton pulled the storage door open the group was faced with a hot and heavy couple in the shadows of the room, "unpredictable."
"Alright, I got one," Brooke grinned as she sipped at her mocha latte. "Would you rather be covered in angry bees or be stuck in a prison cell with Martha Stewart?"
"I'd take my chances with the bees," Seth replied, glancing down at her. He had to admit, maybe being stuck in Tree Hill wasn't the worse thing that could have happened. Brooke wasn't so bad after all…in fact he was having a great time with her.
"Me too," Brooke wrinkled her nose. As they rounded the corner her house came into view. She dreaded going inside; just the thought of being alone in her empty room made her skin crawl. "Here we are."
"It's not so bad for a poor girl," He joked, nudging her arm.
"Yeah, I guess," She sighed, leaning against the front door. "You want to come in?" Seth was about to say no, knowing that it was late and he should have been getting back to the hotel. But there was this sad glimmer of hope in her eyes, and a cute little pout on her face. Quite frankly, it was impossible to say no.
The walk back to the hotel was awkwardly silent. The two couples walked hand in hand, and Marissa walked at a brisk pace ahead of the group. She wasn't in the mood for conversation, and she sure didn't want to face the rest of the group. After another ten minutes of walking, they made it to the hotel, and where soon on the elevator. Finally Summer broke down, and started a conversation.
"So, not your first Luke, huh Coop?" Summer couldn't help but say it. Seth wasn't around, so someone had to ease the tension.
"Yeah, I guess," Marissa shrugged, clearly not wanting to talk about it. "I don't know what happened to privacy though."
"We were worried about you," Ryan explained, hitting the button for their floor.
"Why? I'm a big girl, I can handle myself," Marissa rolled her eyes, "I don't need you guys babysitting me all the time."
"Doesn't seem like it," Summer muttered under her breath.
"Excuse me?" Marissa gasped, surprised that her best friend had said anything. Usually Summer let her have her fits and didn't get in the way. Maybe it was time she did. "You guys we're freaking out because I was gone for ten minutes, yet Seth isn't around either, is he? I don't see you guys searching the town for him!"
"Seth never overdosed in TJ and nearly died," Ryan replied coldly, "You did. You know what else? Oliver also nearly killed you after I warned you about him. And hey, what about the time you ran away to Chino without telling anyone? Don't you get it? We can't trust you."
"Screw you," Marissa stated simply, running out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened.
"Do you think you were a little hard on her?" Lindsay commented, laying her head on Ryan's shoulder.
"You don't know her," He shrugged, patting her back. "She's a danger to herself, and she doesn't even realize it."
"Brooke? You home?" Haley called as she walked up the staircase. No one had answered the door, but Brooke's car was in the driveway, and the door was unlocked so Haley had let herself in. "Brooke?" Haley knocked softly on her door, waiting for a response.
"Yeah?" A muffled voice croaked tiredly. Haley pushed the door open all the way and walked inside. As she entered the room, she stopped in her tracks. Brooke wasn't the only one in her bed. In fact, she was curled up in the arms of a certain Orange County resident.
"Wow, I'm just going to...leave," Haley said turning on her heel.
"Wait, Haley, this is so not what it looks like," Brooke informed her hastily, as she jumped out of bed.
"Um, there's no need to explain," Haley replied, not turning to look. Instead, she just walked towards the door.
"No, look! Clothes!" Seth exclaimed, climbing out of the bed as well. Sure enough, both of them were fully dressed.
"Sorry," Haley apologized, her cheeks still beet red, "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
"We were just talking," Brooke assured, glancing at Seth, "And we ended up falling asleep I guess. It's all very innocent."
"Okay. I'm still going to...uh...go...I just stopped by because, um, everyone was worried about Seth, since they hadn't heard from him," Haley explained. A grin formed on her face as she studied the couple, "Seth, you've got a little lipstick on your cheek."
"Oh um…yeah," Seth rubbed at his cheek furiously, "So anyways, I must have left my cell phone at Karen's."
"Yeah," Haley held the cell phone out to Seth, "It was ringing off the hook this morning while I was at work."
"I've got to go," Seth told Brooke, "Everyone's probably freaking out, but maybe we could do something tonight or something?"
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Brooke grinned, "Can't wait."
A/N: Hey guys! Thanks again for the reviews. So yay! Though I've said it a million and ten times, we love hearing from you, and we really do use your suggestions. Promise! We love you guys for reading, and even more for reviewing, lol. If you're reading this right now, STOP- we have directions for you! 1.) Click on the little button next to "Submit Review" that says GO. 2.) Use your keyboard to type a short (or long) message. 3.) Submit. 4.) Come back soon, because if you did steps 1 thru 3, then there will be an update ASAP!
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