Chapter 19

Marissa and Ryan stood together at the pier. His arm had found it's way around Marissa's shoulders, partly for warmth, but more for comfort. It had been subtle, not allowing either of them to process the chemistry. They hadn't spoken in a long time. They didn't need words right now, they just didn't want to be alone. Marissa's cell phone cut through the silence like a knife. She looked at Ryan before answering, she wanted his permission to break their embrace. Ryan smiled, "Aren't you going to get it?" he asked.

Marissa nodded, "Hello?"

"Hey Coop! Where are you?" Summer cheerfully asked on the other line.

"Oh, I'm just down by the pier. Are you still with Seth?"

"I just left his house, but I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out.

Talk, not talk, whatever."

Marissa was desperate to tell somebody about Alex, and she knew she couldn't turn to Ryan on this one, but she also didn't want to leave Ryan. She made eye contact with Ryan, and he seemed to read her mind.

"I should probably be going Marissa," he mouthed to Marissa.

Marissa nodded to Ryan and spoke to Summer, "That sounds good Sum, I'll be at your house in like 10? Can I crash there tonight?"

"Yeah! I'll see you in a few."

Marissa shut her cell phone and turned to Ryan who was preparing to leave,

"Ryan, this was…nice."

Ryan nodded quietly. "We'll definitely have to start hanging out again. I do remember you sucking at the Ninja game, if you wanted a lesson. Seth isn't bringing his 'A' game to the table, so you might have a chance to beat him."

Marissa smiled, "Oh please, I wasn't that bad, I'm definitely ready to take you on."

Ryan smiled back at her, "Oh you think so do you?"

Marissa nodded, "We'll just have to see tomorrow."

"Yes we will." Ryan confirmed. "Ok, well then, why don't you and Summer come by sometime tomorrow? I'm sure she's planning on seeing Seth anyways."

"Sounds good Ryan." Marissa waved to him and headed to Summer's house. She was actually happy.

When she got to Summer's she walked in without knocking. She knew that Summer's step mom would be unconscious, and her dad was probably out of town. As she was walking to Summer's room, Marissa realized how long it had been since she had last been to Summer's house. Summer's bedroom door was slightly ajar so she went in without knocking.

"Hey Sum!" Marissa said.

Summer who was lying on her bed, reading a magazine jumped up. Summer hid the magazine behind her back, "Hey Coop! That was quick…"

"Whatcha' reading Sum?" Marissa asked curiously.

"Nothing!" Summer exclaimed.

"Summer, are you looking at porn again?" Marissa asked sarcastically.

"I read it for the articles!" Summer exclaimed equally as sarcastic.

Marissa rolled her eyes and succeeded in grabbing the magazine behind Summer's back.

Marissa found herself staring at the new issue of Legion, Seth's favorite comic book. "Oh my God Sum, no way!"

"I can explain!" Summer exclaimed, trying to get her comic book back.

Marissa stared at the comic book but, broke down in laughter, "I can't believe I lost you to the dark side!"

"Hey! In my defense, Cohen said that if I read Legion then he'll watch the Vouge fashion awards with me tomorrow on E!."

Marissa nodded, still smirking, "Mmhmm.."

"Shut up Coop!" Summer playfully hit Marissa on the arm. "So," Summer continued, finally becoming serious, "How is everything with Alex? I mean, she seemed kind of angry when she left."

Marissa cleared her throat, "Yeah, she was. I think were done."

"What? Why?" Summer touched Marissa's arm tenderly, concerned for her friend.

"In a nut shell, she thought that I was using her as an example of how screwed up I am!"

Summer's jaw dropped. "What? That's ridiculous! What a bitch!"

Marissa shrugged, "I don't know, there was other stuff too…"

"What other stuff?"

"I don't know…she just thought that I wasn't happy with her."

"Were you?"

Marissa shrugged, "Yeah, I think so, but she also brought up a good point."

Summer's mouth hung open, waiting. "Well?"

"She wanted to know that I would be as committed in my relationship with her, as I was when I was with Ryan."

"Wow…that's a pretty big thing to ask considering you and Chino."

Marissa looked up, "what about me and Ryan?"

Summer rolled her eyes, "Coop, you guys practically went shopping for matching 'his' and 'her' bath towels! You guys were like…committed."

Marissa smiled, "Yeah, I know. So, I didn't give Alex an answer and she got

mad. I guess I can't really blame her, we wanted different things out of this

relationship."

"What did you want?" Summer asked.

Marissa was quiet, "I don't really know. I know that I didn't use the relationship to piss of my mom, but it was definitely a plus. And, I guess I just wanted somebody. I mean, I felt really alone. That's the same reason I was with DJ, I just needed to be with somebody that cared about me."

"I care about you Coop!" Summer exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her friends.

Marissa giggled, "I know Sum, but to be perfectly honest, and I know that this is selfish, but it felt really good in this relationship with Alex, and my relationship with DJ, to have somebody care about me more than I cared about them."

"You didn't care about Alex?"

"I did, its just that I knew the whole time I was with her that when things ended, I wouldn't be devastated. At least not the way I've been devastated before."

"You mean with Ryan?"

Marissa nodded. "Alex thinks I should be with Ryan."

Summer nodded, "Good, maybe the two of us can start a club or something."

Marissa looked up, surprised, "What? You think that Ryan and I should be together too?"

"Please Coop! The way you two were acting tonight, Cohen and I were practically having an excitement hernia!"

Marissa tried to hide a smile from her face.

"But," Summer continued, "It doesn't really matter what me or Alex thinks, if you don't have feelings for Chino than it wasn't meant to be."

Marissa nodded slowly, "Yeah." She confirmed, "If I don't have feelings for him…" she said slowly, a smile spreading across her face.

Summer jumped up excitedly, "Oh my God! I knew it! Coop!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Marissa tried not to laugh, "Summer! Shhh!"

Summer sat back down a wide smile still consuming her face. "When did this happen!"

"I don't know, I mean, tonight was so much fun, it really felt like it was a year ago, you know?"

"Yes!" Summer agreed, loudly.

"Then, after I went after Alex, and things didn't go so well, I went to take a walk, and we sort of ended up together at the pier."

"Oh my God! This is better than the Valley!" Summer was waving her hands excitedly, but she suddenly stopped. "Wait, you guys were at the pier together?"

"Yeah." Marissa confirmed, "Why?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Summer said slowly. "It's just that, well, Lindsay dropped by the Cohen's, and she wanted to talk to Ryan, and we told her that he was at the pier…"

Marissa nodded, "Yeah, we saw her."

Summer gasped, "You did?"

"Well actually, she saw us, and then drove away angrily."

"Oh my God. What did Ryan do?"

Marissa tried as hard as she could not to smile, "Nothing." She said, as she finally surrendered to a small smile, "He didn't do anything. He saw her, and then stayed with me."

Summer was quiet, as she stared intently at her friend, "You so want to gloat right now Coop."

Marissa's smile widened and she nodded eagerly. "I'm sorry, but it's like he picked me or something!"

Summer once again jumped up in excitement. "Tomorrow Coop, you and I are going to the Home Depot to pick out those towels!"