"Yo Ryan!" Seth knocked on the pool house door, before opening it. "We're going to Marissa's…" He stopped himself as he saw the sight on the bed. Wait, Ryan and Marissa? Since when did that happen? "Or rather, Marissa's coming here? Dude, are you like back together or what?" Ryan nodded slowly and smiled as he continued to hold Marissa.

"Guys, that's great!" Seth walked over to the bed, holding his hand up for a high five. Ryan raised his eyebrows at him, and looked down at Marissa, who looked up, tears still staining her face. "Hey, Marissa, are you o.k.?" Seth questioned, after seeing the expression on her face.

"Well, I am now." She wiped her face again and snuggled up closer to Ryan, who was smiling. Seth smiled at the sight of them so happy. "Well you might as well take Marissa in your car 'cos I've had enough PDA from Summer and Zach to last a lifetime." He laughed to himself and turned, walking out the door, closing it behind him

"O.K." Ryan replied, kissing Marissa's head, before slowly getting up. "You sure you're o.k.?" Marissa smiled and got up off the bed, putting her shoes on.

"I'm great." She followed him out of the door, pushing all thoughts of Julie, Caleb and D.J. to the back of her head, as she found Ryan's hand and placed it in hers.

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"Kirsten!" Julie greeted her guests as they walked through the door. "You look lovely!" Kirsten smiled falsely, standing awkwardly in the gigantic, terracotta tiled hallway. "Seth, so pleased to see you. Ah, Sandy, so glad you could come" She stopped as she came to Sandy.

"Actually, I didn't want to come, but I was forced." He replied, smiling sarcastically back at her. Julie rolled her eyes, spotting Marissa and Ryan standing in the doorway.

"Marissa?!" she said, shocked. "I thought you were in your room?"

"I went out." Marissa shrugged her shoulders; she didn't care what her mother thought anymore.

"Next time, would you please tell me where you're going before you go? I get worried about you." Julie replied, taking hold of her hands. Marissa stared back, letting go of Julie's hands, and stepping back. Julie, seeing she was going to get nowhere with her daughter tonight, moved on to Ryan.

"Ryan, I thought you were in Chino with that girl you got pregnant?" she asked, curiously. You all know what Julie Nichol's like, not one to pass up a good old gossip.

"Uh, well actually I'm here." Ryan replied, gesturing around him. Marissa laughed lightly, hiding it behind her hand.

"Well, let's not keep everyone waiting." Julie said, ushering everybody into the dining room, assigning seats, before sitting down next to Caleb, who just got in from work. The food was already on the table, in a kind of buffet style, and everyone began digging in. The meal went fine, and soon enough, dessert came swiftly, conversation awkwardly flowing.

"So, Julie, what did you want to tell us?" Sandy said, leaning back in his chair, glass full of the finest wine California had to offer. Kirsten was to his left, and looked up at her father and supposed step-mother expectantly. Ryan glanced at Marissa, taking hold of her hand underneath the table, and she smiled gratefully at him. He already knew what Julie was going to say, Marissa had told him earlier. Seth looked at Ryan and Marissa weirdly, wondering what was going on.

"Well, Caleb and I have some news, don't we darling?" Julie turned to face Caleb, smiling uneasily.

"Don't tell us you're pregnant!" Sandy joked sarcastically, looking bemused as he saw the look on Julie and Caleb's face. Kirsten choked on her wine, and Seth looked alarmed, as silence fell over the table. Marissa bit her lip, and looked down.

"Actually, I am." Julie tried to regain her confidence, smiling happily as she stood up, dragging Caleb's hand with her. "Aren't I, Cal?"

"Yes, you are." Caleb replied, smiling at her, glancing around the table as his family, and his extended family sitting there shocked. "And, I hope you're all happy for us." Silence reigned over the table, glances were thrown, and still the quiet went on, until Sandy broke it.

"Well, that's a shock to us all, but, congratulations." He said, raising his glass, nudging Seth and Kirsten, who were staring so surprised at Julie, that they didn't realise they were being rude. Slowly everyone raised the glasses, and proposed a toast to Julie and Caleb, and their 'baby'. After that, conversation fizzled out, and soon enough, they all stood up to leave.

"Thank you so much for coming." Caleb said, showing them the door, Julie close behind him.

"It was…" Kirsten replied, as she searched for the right words. "Nice. Maybe we could do it again some other time?" She saw Sandy frantically shaking his head behind Julie, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, of course." Julie said falsely, through clenched teeth. She closed the door behind them, and let out a sigh of relief. She was fed up of people being so shocked about her pregnancy. It wasn't that big a deal was it? She left Caleb in his study, and walked out onto their balcony. She saw the Cohen's car leaving, and clenched her fists. As she looked out onto the Newport Beach horizon, she narrowed her eyes as she spotted Marissa and Ryan kissing in her garden, before both climbing into his car, Marissa with her overnight bag in hand. Ryan kissed her hand, before closing the door behind her, and slipped into the driver's seat. They drove off, leaving Julie to her twisted thoughts.

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'I can't believe them." Marissa sighed, dumping her bag down on the pool house bed. She sat down on the bed, whilst Ryan followed, hugging her from behind. Seth followed the couple through the pool house doors, sitting on a chair. He looked as shocked as ever. Ryan looked at him weirdly.

"Hey, you o.k.?"

"My grandfather is going to have a baby with…now this is this bit I can't get my head around…with Julie Cooper!?" Seth shook his head amazingly. "No offence was supposed to be taken from that last comment by the way Marissa."

"None taken. In fact, I'm thinking the exact same thing as you." Marissa laughed flippantly. "I can't believe I agreed to move back in with her."

"You weren't there when they…you know?" Seth replied, moving his hands wildly about. "Did it?"

"Seth Cohen!" Marissa said, grabbing the nearest thing she could find, which happened to be Ryan's maths textbook, and chucked it at his head. "How can you even let those kinds of thoughts inside your head?"

Seth ducked, and the book landed on the floor. "Well, it all seems kind of warped to me. I mean Marissa, your mums been sleeping with some old man that's at least 30 years older than her. As Summer would say, 'Ew!' Seth proved his point, before linking his hands together and placing in his lap.

"Speaking of Summer, did you ring her in the end?" Ryan asked curiously, grabbing his textbook from the floor, and placing it neatly back on his desk. Marissa got up to go to the toilet, leaving the two boys alone.

"Yeah, I rung her alright, only lasted about 5 seconds though. Hey, but enough about me, what about you and Marissa?" Seth asked, changing the subject quickly. He didn't want to think about Summer, let alone talk about her.

"What about us?" Ryan replied, lying back down on the bed, arms behind his head.

"Well, you just got back together, man." Seth responded. "You gotta feel something."

"Actually, everything's great. Perfect. If you get what I mean." Ryan said, smiling. "I mean, after this summer, I thought it could never go back to the way it was. But for me, it kinda has."

Seth looked down, sadly, thinking about the way things were. "Yeah, I'm real pleased for you buddy." He looked up, suddenly thinking of something. "Hey, what about that guy Marissa was hanging out with, T.J, or something?"

"I don't know. Well, obviously I think Marissa should tell him…" Ryan stopped mid-sentence, when Marissa came walking through the door again.

"What should I tell who?" She asked, looking between the two boys, confused.

"Oh, nothing." Seth smiled reassuringly. "Just guy stuff, you know." He glanced meaningfully at Ryan, who looked kinda down considering his past mood.

"Actually, I don't know about guy stuff, seeing as I'm a girl." Marissa replied, resuming her spot on Ryan's bed.

"No, and here I was thinking you were a guy!" Seth retorted. "What did you have a sex change over summer?"

"Ha, ha so funny. I see you still haven't noticed that when you crack a so-called 'joke', everyone's laughing at you, not with you." Marissa replied. "Do you want me to throw something at you again? Hey maybe this time I could try something a little heavier."

"Okay, okay, enough with the violence already." Seth looked at Ryan, who was silently laughing. "I'll leave you guys to, well, do whatever it is you do in here." He got up, and walked out of the door, closing it behind him.

"So are you sure it's okay for me to spend the night?" Marissa asked, turning towards Ryan.

"Yeah, yeah it's fine." Ryan forced out a smile, and got up off the bed.

"Are you okay?" Marissa asked. "You don't seem yourself. Is Theresa worrying you? 'Cos I want you to know that I'm gonna be there for you this time…"

"No, it's not Theresa." Ryan shook his head, sitting back down on the bed. "It's actually, well, it's about you."

"Me?" Marissa looked at him, worriedly. "But, I haven't done anything to make you worry about."

"Not actually about you, but, well I just want to know where I stand." Ryan struggled to find the words.

"What, I don't know what you mean." Marissa replied, looking confused as ever, reaching out to place a comforting hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Look, it's about D.J." Ryan spat out, almost violently. Marissa jumped back, pulling her hand off of his shoulder. "I know you were with him this summer. "

"But I'm not now." Marissa said, looking into Ryan's steely blue eyes.

"I know, I just, I feel uncomfortable." Ryan replied, looking back at Marissa. "I mean, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would. But Ryan, you need to remember, I'm through with him." Marissa answered. "I'm with you. And, I love you. Not D.J." She smiled reassuringly. "I don't need anyone else apart from you." Ryan smiled half -heartedly, and pulled Marissa into a hug.

"Thank you." He whispered, caught up in their embrace. Marissa felt him smiling, and smiled herself. They pulled away, and collapsed on the bed, happy to be in each others arms.

"It's you I should be thanking." Marissa murmured, playing with Ryan's hair as she kissed him.

"No, Marissa, I should be thanking you." Ryan replied, sitting up on the bed.

"Hey, no way, I should be totally thanking you." Marissa laughed, pushing him back down on the bed.

"Uh, uh." Ryan shook his head jokily, and grabbed the pillow, softly hitting her amusingly. Marissa looked playfully shocked, and grabbed the cushion from the sofa. She hit him across the head with it, initiating a pillow fight. The two continued to whack each other, hilariously laughing, until they both flopped down, exhausted, but happy, on the bed.

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A/N : I'm trying to make my chapters longer, hope its ok! Next chapter should be a little bit longer though, so don't worry! RR please!!