Disclaimers: Nope.

Author's Notes: I'm sorry to all those AM fans, but I can't write AM. Sorry. Hope you'll keep reading though. :)

Alex drove home quickly. Desperately even. She knew Marissa was falling for Ryan again. It was her job to stop that from happening. Damn Ryan.

Suddenly Alex had a brilliant idea. She parked up her driveway and hurried into her and Marissa's house. It was a mess. Literally. Empty beer cans lay forgotten on the carpet. Assorted beauty magazines and local newspapers were strewn across the floor and empty Chinese takeaway boxes sat idly by, still filled with noodles and rice and God knows what else. And that was just the living room.

Alex immediately set about cleaning the room. She packed up all the rubbish and threw them out. She then went on to the other rooms, cleaning, sweeping, and dusting. By the end of the hour, she'd turned the messy and chaotic house into a clean and homey homestead. But Alex wasn't done yet.

She rummaged about in the bathroom, trying to find some candles. Finally she found two pink dolphin-shaped ones and a few other short stumpy ones. She set them aside and went outside.

The rose bush outside was not what you would call a very nice one. But the flowers on the bush were all right. Pretty even. Alex tugged a few of the nicest ones off the bush and returned inside. She plucked off the petals and went into her and Marissa's bedroom. One by one, she cautiously arranged them around the room and made sure they looked nice and in place. Romantic. She lit the candles and placed them carefully around the house, so they sent off a beautiful soft light in all the right places.

Next, Alex went to her wardrobe. She had to pick and outfit that was revealing, soft and most importantly sexy. There weren't a lot of clothes that Alex would call revealing or sexy, but suddenly she spotted a black lacy bra and underwear. She discarded her other clothes and jumped nimbly into her chosen garments. Then she waited for Marissa to return.

Marissa had been crying for some time, but finally she stopped, sniffling. She clutched Ryan's shoulders and could feel his warm arms around her waist, providing warmth and comfort.

Ryan didn't speak until long after Marissa stopped crying. But then, he removed a hand from Marissa's waist and put it up to her face, and tucked a lock of her golden hair behind her ear, softly and gently.

"You feeling better?" he whispered.

"Yeah," Marissa murmured softly.

There was silence for a while. Then Marissa whispered, "Thank you."

Ryan smiled wryly. "For what?"

Marissa laughed quietly. "For being here."

Ryan kissed her forehead tenderly and said softly, "You should get some rest…"

"But, Alex…" Marissa whispered.

"Sleep," Ryan said firmly. Marissa felt too tired to argue.

"Okay," she agreed, a smile playing on her lips.

As the moon descended on Newport Beach, Marissa fell asleep on Ryan's chest, his arm wrapped protectively around her waist.

Eventually, when the last candle flickered into nothingness, Alex, too, fell asleep.

Author's Notes: This was kinda short…but next chapter will be longer, I promise. Please review!