A/N: Got a few reviews, would like a few more though. I'll review if you do!

Chapter 2: Your Own Disaster

And I wish you weren't worth the wait

Because there's some things

I'd like to say to you…

Marissa drummed her fingers on her desk inside her office. Her secretary told her Sandy Cohen had called and left a message, requesting for an immediate call back. Her secretary hadn't given any more details, so she assumed Sandy hadn't stated his reason for calling.

She felt nervous as she picked up the phone and played with the numbers. She slammed the phone back down on its receiver and put her head in her hands. It was just Sandy. Why was she so nervous about calling Sandy? Other than the fact that she hadn't spoken to the man in a long time, and knew she would get scolded for it, there was really no other reason why she shouldn't call him back.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone and dialed the Cohen home. It rang and rang, until finally someone picked up. A familiar voice answered. "Cohen residence, Summer speaking."

Marissa froze. Summer and her weren't on the best terms. Marissa had regretted the way she left things with Summer the last time they had spoken.

"Hello?" Summer spoke into the phone.

"Yeah. Can I speak with Sandy, please?"

"Yeah, sure, hold on one second."

"Thank you."

"Coop?" Summer's voice rang out before she left to go find Sandy.

"Um, yeah. Hi, Summer."

"Pretty good. And yourself?"

"The same. Living life, you know?"

"Yep. I read all about you in the mags. Seen some of the homes you've decorated. Beautiful. Maybe I'll have you do mine one of these days, that is if you ever come back to Newport."

Marissa rolled her eyes at Summer's cold tone. "It was nice talking to you, Summer. Can I speak to Sandy?"

"Yeah. Hold on."

Summer handed the phone to Sandy without a word. He grabbed it quizzically. "Sandy Cohen."

"Hi, Sandy. It's Marissa. You called?"

"Marissa! Well, hello there. It's so good to hear your voice."

"You too. I miss you guys."

"Well, you don't have to anymore. Kirsten and I are having a 25th anniversary party and we'd really like it if you were there."

Marissa was silent for a few seconds, debating on this. She really wanted to be there for Sandy and Kirsten's sake but just didn't know if she could bear being around Newport and all the memories.

"Marissa?" Sandy pondered, wondering if she was still there.

"Yeah, I'm here. I don't know if I can make it, Sandy."

"Well, I understand if you can't. But we'd really love to see your beautiful face. It's this upcoming Friday."

"Okay. Nice talking to you. Tell Kirsten that I say hi."

"Will do. Bye now, Marissa."

She hung up the phone, upset with herself. She hated disappointing Sandy, and he knew that. So, he knew that if he talked to her, she was going to come. She sighed. The way parents work your mind. She picked up the phone and dialed her secretary. "Lynn, get me the next flight out to Newport, please."

To anyone on a normal day in Newport, Summer Roberts would just look like an average newpsie pulling into a parking spot and getting out of her brand new Mercedes in her Diesel jeans, and overly large sunglasses. But today was not a normal day in Newport. Today was the day Ryan Atwood would finally come home to reunite with all of his old family and friends. She walked into the airport, and stopped at security, waiting for Ryan to walk through the gate. She sipped on a latte, and when she saw him, she smiled. He didn't see her, however, so she threw her latte away, and ran and jumped on him. "Ryan Atwood, I swear to God, I didn't think you could get any more muscular, look at those guns!" She exclaimed, while squeezing his arms.

"Good to see you too, Summer," he said, as he put her back on the ground, and his blue eyes sparkled a little.

"Great to be home, isn't it?" She said, walking beside him.

"You know what?" He replied, putting an arm around her shoulder, "it really is."

She smiled widely at him, and they walked downstairs together to get his luggage.

Summer dropped him off at the Cohen residence, explaining she had to go to Bryan's for a while, but that she would be back. He hesitated before walking through the front door. He hadn't seen these people in four years, and now that he was back, it was going to be a little strange. He decided to walk in as soon as Julie Cooper was walking out. "Ryan!" she yelled, chipper as ever. She leaned into him for a kiss on the cheek. "It's so wonderful to see you."

"Um, you too, Julie," he replied, awestruck at her unusual behavior.

"Well, I must be off, but we'll catch up later, hmm? I've got to go get the house ready for when Marissa arrives!"

"Okay," he said, waving at her, then he did a double take. Wait, Marissa was coming? Whoa, whoa. This he had not been informed of. He walked through the door, a confused expression on his face.

It was Kirsten that first saw him, and at first she hugged him for five minutes and wouldn't let him go, then she began crying hysterically. He comforted her for a while until Sandy walked in the room.

"Don't even worry about it, she's just glad to see you. As we all are," he said, giving Ryan a manly hug.

"Do you mind if I get something to drink?"

At this point, Kirsten's eyes welled up with tears again. "It's pretty bad when my own son has to ask if he can get something to drink or not, Sandy!"

"Ryan, you don't have to bother asking. Kirsten, sweet heart, it's okay. Hey, Seth is coming home today, too. Then the whole family is going to be back together again, and we're all gonna have an awesome time."

Kirsten nodded. "I know. Speaking of that, shouldn't we get going to the airport?"

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. Ryan, you wanna come along?"

"Um, sure."

"All right, gang, let's head out," Sandy said, heading to the car.

Marissa gripped the arm chair tightly, as she sat down. The plane hadn't even taken off yet, and she was nervous. She had hated planes ever since she was a little girl. She closed her eyes tightly, and when she opened them, she saw a familiar head of hair, and she almost jumped out her seat. Actually, she did. "Seth!"

His head cocked to the side when he heard his name being called by the familiarity of a woman's face.

"Marissa! He exclaimed.

She hugged him tightly when he got to her, ignoring the rude comments she received from the man sitting next to her. Seth leaned down to said man, and shoved a plane ticket in his face, "I'll give you first class if you let me sit in this spot" The man pondered for a second, then took the plane ticket from Seth's hand, and walked away.

"People are so uptight these days, eh?" He said, an amused look on his face.

"Oh, I am so glad you're here. I have trouble on planes, and usually the person next to me never wants to talk, and so I just sit her nervously, waiting for my fate of either crashing or landing safely."

Seth chuckled. "Well, I assure you, we will be fine."

"That's always comforting. Reassurance from Seth Cohen."

He winked at her, and shrugged. "Better than nothing, I always say."

"What are you doing on this flight anyway. Don't you live in New York?"

"Yeah, I flew from JFK to Ontario, and then connected a smaller flight from Ontario to Newport. Is that what you did?"

"Subtract JFK, add Santa Barbara."

"Yes. How's that working out for you?"

"Just wonderful. I love it there. Not quite as much as I love Newport, though."

"I don't think any place can beat Newport. And that's coming out of a true hater's mouth."

"You know you secretly loved it, Seth."

"Yeah, but we'll just keep that between me and you."

She laughed, and they continued with their chat about their current lives, old times, and what was to come. When they landed, Marissa hadn't even noticed where the time had gone. "That was fun," she said, grabbing her purse, and walking off the plane.

"Yeah, it was. I don't think we would have gotten another chance to do that."

"Of course we will," she said as they walked down the runway and into the building.

Seth spotted his mom, and ran up to her and gave her a big kiss on the cheek, and somewhat of a hug to his father, but wasn't able to very well since his mom wouldn't let go of him.

"Good to see you, son," Sandy said, while giving a crazy look behind Kirsten's back. Marissa stood there a little awkwardly while she saw the family embrace. She cast her eyes upward, and saw another familiar head of hair behind Sandy's. Her heart stopped. Was this really happening? Was Ryan Atwood seriously standing behind Sandy, a big smile on his face, waiting for his turn to greet Seth?

When Kirsten let go, and Sandy let go, Seth spotted Ryan and froze. "Ryan!" He exclaimed. They shared a brotherly hug ,and when Ryan looked behind Seth, he saw Marissa. His smile faltered a little, and their eyes met. He couldn't do this right now. Luckily for him, Sandy and Kirsten were occupying her time, so he had a minute alone with Seth.

"I don't know if I can deal being in such close vicinity with her for a week."

"Are you serious, bro? It's just Marissa Cooper."

"Just Marissa Cooper? That's real funny, Seth. She is not the only the girl that I've been in love with since I was 16, but also the girl I left when we were 18, and have not seen since."

Seth sighed. "Well, I have to see Summer. So I think we're even."

"Fair enough," Ryan commented, walked in the direction of Marissa as soon as he saw that Sandy and Kirsten had walked away to retrieve their luggage.

"Hey, Riss," he said, approaching her cautiously.

"Hey, Ry," she said, giving him a slight smile. He leaned in for a hug, and she politely took it, along with all of his familiar scents that brought her back to the one night they shared before he left.

"Good to see you," he said, slowly walking, with her behind.

"And you as well."

Oh, god.

"So father," Seth began, when they all piled in the car, "tell me about this Bryan guy that Summer is dating."

"Oh, Seth. He is just wonderful," Kirsten began.

"Thanks, Mother."

Sandy cleared his throat. "He's a nice man. Strong, loyal, dedicated."

"Meaning boring, uptight, and has a huge stick up his ass in the words of Sandy Cohen."

Sandy looked through the rear view mirror, surprised at the words Marissa had said, and then he smiled. "You know me all too well."

She grinned, and hopped out of the car with her luggage when they reached the house. Marissa walked into the familiar house that had barely changed since she was last in it. She walked through the living room, and into the kitchen to find Summer on her cell phone, barking orders. She saw Marissa enter through the corner of her eye.

"Let me call you back."

She hung up the phone and turned around in her chair to stand up. "Hey, Coop."

Marissa smiled warmly at her former best friend. They embraced in a quick hug, and then quickly let go. "I suppose Seth is here as well?" Summer pondered, beginning to walk out to the foyer.

"Yes," Marissa responded, staying in the kitchen.

Seth spotted her first, standing in the foyer. He had been getting his luggage out of the trunk, but spotted her, and froze. There she stood, in all of her glory, wearing a lilac-colored pencil skirt with a matching cami and cardigan. The cami showed off barely any midriff, but that was just the way Seth liked it. He couldn't help but notice how cute she looked in her reading glasses. She looked like one of those hot librarians that you could take back to the dusty book shelves and do naughty things with. His luggage fell to his feet and he was brought back to his sad reality. He walked up to the door, and as soon as their eyes met, Summer knew she wasn't over him. He flashed her a dimpled smile, and gave her a hug.

"Missed you, Sum," he said quietly in her ear.

She nodded. "Me too."

He knew they weren't on the best of terms, but he was going to try to make the best out of this week.

"Take-out, anyone?" Sandy called from the kitchen.

Seth and Summer smiled at each other. Just like old times.

After they all finished their meals, Kirsten and Summer went into her home office to discuss the party. Sandy and Seth were enjoying an intense game of Tony Hawk in the living room, and Ryan and Marissa sat there awkwardly watching the two.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Ryan suggested.

Marissa nodded. "Sure. A walk on the beach sounds nice."

"Just what I was thinking. We'll be back, Sandy. Seth."

The two just nodded while Marissa and Ryan slipped out the back door.

She kept her distance while they walked. At first, nothing was said, they just enjoyed the silence of each other's company.

"I really missed you, Ryan," Marissa said, finally speaking up. He noticed her voice was breaking, and he looked over at her, surprised by her sudden emotion, to find her blue eyes boring into his, and for the first time in his life, he couldn't read them.