A/N: Thanks so much for your awesome reviews. I was watching The OC reruns last night, and the angsty, broken up Seth and Summer really kicked me in the ass with inspiration. I hope to get a couple more chapters up before the weekend is over. Keep reviewing, and I promise to keep writing.

Seth stared at the kitchen counter with a blank look on his face. In less than twelve hours, Kirsta would be here. And if things hadn't gone so well with Summer the other night, that fact wouldn't have bothered him in the least. He would welcome his friend with open arms, if it hadn't been for Summer.

That seemed to be the theme of his life, though. He would still be a pathetic, lonely geek, if it hadn't been for Summer. He would have gone to college across the country, instead of across the state, if it hadn't been for Summer. He would have never pursued his comic book, if it hadn't been for Summer. He would have never made that damned pact, if it hadn't been for Summer.

He knew that he should be happy. He got to spend more than a weekend with Ryan, talking and hanging out like they used to. His parents seemed better than Seth had ever seen them. He and Summer were friends now. And it was Chrismakkuh – his favorite time of the year. There was absolutely no reason for him to feel like he was staring down the barrel of a large hunting rifle, struggling for memorable last words.

"What's wrong with you?" Ryan asked as he shut the kitchen door firmly behind him and went straight for the coffee pot.

Seth looked up, surprised to find his friend there. "Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just sitting here, contemplating my life. You know, the mistakes, the good times. All of it, just dwelling," he rambled.

"What? Why?" Ryan asked, searching the counter top for something that would ease his hunger.

With an incredulous look, Seth threw his arms up. "Can you not see the Looney Tunes-style rifle in my face, Ryan?"

Ryan's eyes darted back and forth as he carefully chewed a dried piece of cereal. "Is this a metaphor?"

"No. There really is an enormousgun in my face right now, Ryan, you just can't see it," he stated wryly. Rolling his eyes, Seth returned his cheek to the palm it had been resting on. "Yes, Ryan, it is a metaphor. A metaphor for the death that it about to overtake me in," he checked his watch, "Approximately ten and a half hours."

Nodding, Ryan sank to the stool beside Seth and sipped his coffee. "Krista," was all he said.

"Krista," was all Seth said in agreement.

There was a moment of silence as Ryan chewed another piece of cereal. When he had swallowed, he turned slightly. "Why'd you invite her? If you don't want her here?"

"Have you met me, man?" Seth asked in exasperation, standing and moving to the refrigerator. "I'm powerless in the face of a beautiful woman. You know that." He withdrew the orange juice container and heading toward the cabinet for a glass.

"Beautiful, huh?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew Seth's heart would always belong to Summer, at least in part. But it wasn't Seth's heart that got him in trouble most of the time.

"It's a figure of speech," Seth withered, drinking from his glass as he leaned against the counter.

But Ryan shook his head. "No, it's not." If anyone knew Seth Cohen, it was Ryan Atwood. And he knew that the only way to get Seth to admit his feelings was to poke and barb him until he couldn't come up with another excuse. "A figure of speech is something like 'Kick your ass so hard your momma will feel it.' 'Beautiful' is an adjective, used to describe a thing of beauty."

Seth rolled his eyes and drank from his juice glass. "So what? So I think Krista's beautiful. You met her. Am I wrong?" Ryan shook his head. "See? I think Marissa is beautiful, too. And Alex. Remember her, Ryan? She was beautiful. Anna Kournikova? Josie Moran? Katie Holmes? The girl from the Coffee Beanery in the mall? Do I need to go on?"

Ryan shook his head. "I get it," he conceded. "Seth, are you sure there's not something you're leaving out. I get the feeling that there's more to this whole "Krista" thing than just Summer getting jealous."

Dammit. Leave it to his best friend in the whole world to figure him out. Not that Seth Cohen was famous for hiding his feelings all that well, but he was hoping to get out of this without having to tell the whole truth. "I may have been a little angry with Summer the last time we broke up. And I may have vented a little bit to Krista about it," he admitted. "And she may hate Summer now because of it."

The words came out in a rush, but once Ryan had processed them, he felt his stomach drop. "Seth," he sighed. "She's gonna kick Summer's ass," Ryan predicted.

And Seth nodded. What else could he do? It's not like he could stop it now.

XXXXX

"This sucks!" Summer stood and turned the television off, turning to stare at Marissa, who was lounging comfortably on the living room couch. She thought that eating ice cream and watching The Valley with her best friend would make her forget that Seth's "guest" was coming into town, but even Grady Bridges wasn't taking her mind off of the blur of emotions coursing through her body.

Marissa bit her lip and hugged a pillow to her chest. "Sum, we could always just go over there? You could meet Krista. See that she's not all that bad."

Rolling her eyes, Summer flopped onto the floor and shook her head. "I can't believe you're taking Cohen's side in all of this," she accused.

"I'm not taking anyone's side," Marissa defended quickly, pulling at the fringe on the edge of the pillow. "I only met Krista once. I don't really know her. But you told Seth that you wanted to be his friend. And you told him that you were cool with her coming, so why not go over there and prove it to him?"

Summer's eyes narrowed at Marissa. "Because, Coop, you're just gonna run off to the pool house with Ryan the minute we get there and leave me to watch Cohen and his super-duper special friend being all," she struggled for the word, "friendly," she finally spat with disgust.

Marissa started to promise that she wouldn't leave Summer alone with them when the doorbell rang. "Are you expecting company?" she asked instead.

Shaking her head, Summer pulled herself off of the floor with a grunt and moved toward the door. "This better not be one of my step-mom's stupid prescription deliveries," she threatened to no one in particular.

The screech that Summer emitted when she opened the door caused Marissa to leap off of the couch. She grasped her heart, for fear it had stopped beating and then looked to where Summer was standing, her arms around a six foot tall Adonis with a Mohawk and a "Social Distortion" tee shirt. She smiled to herself and made her way toward them.

"So, I guess that means I'm not interrupting anything?" the guy asked with a smirk. "Hey, Marissa," he greeted easily.

Marissa offered a small wave as Summer pulled away from him and let her eyes drift over Kendrick Hall, her Chem Lab partner at USC. One date, one movie, and she knew that they would never be anything more than friends. But it was good to have friends. Especially at that very moment. "What are you doing here?"

Kendrick put his hands in the pockets of his loose-fitting Dickies and looked around the foyer of her house. "We were supposed to have a gig in Oceanside this weekend, but Darien got the flu, and we had to cancel," he referred to the lead singer of the band for which he was drummer. "And Newport was closer than home, so I thought I'd swing by and see how your holiday was going. See if one of those hot, OC ragers was goin' down or something?"

Marissa shot Summer a look of warning, which her friend ignored, looping her arm through Kendricks. "Actually, we were just gonna go hang out with some friends," she said, leading him out the front door. If Cohen could invite a "friend" to hang out, then so could Summer. She slid into the front of Kendrick's van, a small, satisfied smile curling the ends of her lips.