A/N: - Okay, so here is the next chapter. Thanks to my faithful reviewers, I luv you all smiles
"Argh! Ryan still hasn't called me!" Marissa stated, glancing at the clock on the desk. "It's been like two hours since I rung him, and he said he would ring back!" The girls had changed into their pajamas, and were lounging around in Summer's room.
"So? Why don't you ring him?" Summer replied, looking up from the TV. "He probably forgot or something."
"I don't know, Sum." Marissa answered. "He seemed like, really pissed last time we spoke. I mean, I did kinda ditch him."
"I'm really sorry, this is my entire fault." Summer answered. "I'm such a lame ass for crying over Cohen."
"Hey, it's not your fault!" Marissa responded. "It's Seth's." Summer laughed.
"Yeah, let's just blame him." Summer answered, finally smiling. Marissa walked over to her DVD collection.
"Sooooo, what's it to be?" Marissa said, scanning the shelves. "A little Titanic? Bring It On? Ooh, Tom Cruise, Days of Thunder?" Marissa looked at Summer for a response.
"Hmm, I'm in the mood for Titanic." Summer said, rolling of the bed and turning her TV on. "A bit of Leo never harmed anyone did it?" She opened the case and inserted the disc, when suddenly a small stone came flying through the open window. She jumped out of the way to dodge it, and the disc dropped out of her hand. "Holy crap!"
"What the hell…." Marissa said, jumping up from the bed, and following Summer to the window. The two girls peered out into the darkness.
"Seth!" Ryan said. "I said to aim for the closed window!" He hit him in the arm, and Seth buckled.
"O.K, that was uncalled for." Seth replied, rubbing his arm up and down. Summer and Marissa stood at the window, Marissa smirking at Seth's 'patheticness'.
"Oh, God." Summer turned and walked away. She placed a shaking hand to her forehead. Seth was at her house, he never came to her house. He only ever came to her house when he wanted to . . . win her back? She looked in the mirror. Damn, she looked like a mess. Summer grabbed her lip-gloss, and applied a little to her lips.
"Okay, so Sum, can I let them in?" Marissa said, waving down to Ryan before turning around.
"Ummm, I guess . . . Coop! What am I going to say?" Summer whispered loudly, worried. "I was like, crying, for God's sake!"
"Just . . ." Marissa thought for a moment, head cocked to one side. "Be yourself, I'm sure that will work." She spun Summer around, and marched her over towards the window.
Lindsay rang the doorbell that was placed smartly next to the oak front door of the Nichol mansion. She had some unfinished business with Marissa. The cheque Marissa was supposed to give to her still hadn't been given to her. Her mother had been on her back about it all week, and she really needed the money. A blurred figure appeared behind the glass panel, and the door was opened.
"Um, hi." Lindsay said uncertainly. "Mrs Cooper?" Lindsay looked at the woman before her.
"Cooper-Nichol." Julie looked the red-haired girl up and down, wondering why she was on her front doorstep. "Yes, can I help you?"
"I was actually hoping too see Marissa, she needs to give me something. . ." Lindsay answered, taken aback by Julie's no-nonsense tone of voice.
"Well, head on up, though I'm not sure if she's in." Julie replied, reluctantly opening her front door to Lindsay. "Get whatever it is you need to get." Lindsay stepped into the house, looking around. "Upstairs and to the right." Lindsay nodded, and headed up the marble stairs. "Oh, and if you try anything stupid, we have CCTV." Julie flashed Lindsay a fake smile, and turned and walked back into the lounge.
"Right, CCTV." Lindsay carried on up the stairs, taking in the elegant surroundings. "God." Lindsay thought. "The girl's rich enough to have CCTV installed in her house, but can't shell out a couple of hundred dollars for the damage she did?" She finished climbing the stairs, and walked down the darkened passageway. She opened the door she figured was Marissa's room, and walked in. "Marissa?" She called out. When no answer came, Lindsay breathed out. Marissa's room was practically twice the size of her whole house.
"Wow, Cosmo Girl certainly has style." Lindsay said to herself, figuring as Marissa was out, she might as well have a little nose around her bedroom. Various posters were tacked up on the terracotta walls, photos in frames scattered around on chests of drawers. She walked up to the drawers, picking up a photo frame. Three guesses to who was in the picture. Ryan and Marissa. Lindsay sighed, frustrated, and slammed the picture face down back on the surface. She carried walking around the room, until she saw Marissa's black purse on the desk. Lindsay bit her lip, should she look inside? Or was that a bit too stalkerish? Ah, who would ever know…she thought, and tipped out the contents carefully onto the bed.
"OK, here we go…concert tickets, purse, money….." A thought suddenly pinged into Lindsay's head, the CCTV cameras. But technically, this wasn't stealing, right? The money was rightfully hers anyway, right? Lindsay reassured herself, and slowly began searching through the bag again. Her hand felt a small piece of paper, and she brought it out of the bag to read it, thinking it was the cheque, seeing as it was the same size, and shape. Lindsay unfolded it, and read it. It was written in Marissa's handwriting, and had a name and number on it.
Tom - 555-121-334 - Ring back!
Why would Marissa have another guy's phone number in her purse, with the words 'Ring Back' on it? Lindsay thought for a minute. She wondered how Ryan would like to know about this 'Tom' guy. Lindsay smiled wickedly and inserted the piece of paper into her own purse.
"OK, Ryan, am I all attached?" Seth looked up at the clamp securing him to Summer's windowsill, and Ryan tightening the ropes that were in turn attached to the back of the car which was parked on the driveway.
"Yeah, you are." Ryan stood back up, taking in the crazy sight before him. "But what I don't understand is why you can't just ring the doorbell like a normal person." Seth shook his head.
"Ah, Ryan, that's because I'm not a normal person, I thought you would have figured that out by now." Seth answered, jumping onto the wall. "Now, Sum-Sum had better appreciate this."
"Seth, don't call her Sum-Sum." Seth and Ryan turned as Marissa spoke, standing on the front porch, arms wrapped around herself from the cold, as she was only wearing her pajamas. "Um, why are you clinging to the wall?"
"That is a good question." Seth replied, looking down warily. "No, I'm here to see Summer."
"Well, the front door's right there." Marissa pointed to behind her. Seth looked at her like she was a mad woman.
"Dude, here I am, putting myself out, trying to be romantic, and you tell me to use the front door!" Seth answered, hoisting himself up by the vines that were being grown on the trellis. Ryan looked at Marissa, and gestured to walk away. They walked around to the front of the car.
"So, I'm sorry, about earlier, I mean. . .I didn't mean to just like leave you . ." Marissa started as she sat on the bonnet of the black Range Rover. Ryan stood beside her, hands in his pockets.
"It's okay." He replied, looking down. "I'm sorry for being so pissed off about it." Marissa smiled, and jumped down, wrapping her arms around Ryan's neck.
"You're forgiven." She whispered, smiling, as Ryan pulled away.
"Shouldn't you be the one asking for forgiveness?" He asked, teasingly, placing his arms around her waist. Marissa shook her head, smiling and leant in to kiss him. Ryan lifted her up gently, and sat her on the car again, placing his hands either side of her and returning the kiss.
"Oh, and you know, since you couldn't stay for the concert, I got you a souvenir anyway." Ryan said, after pulling away, and picking a bag up off the floor. He reached inside, and pulled out a zip-up blue jumper with 'Journey' emblazoned on the back. Marissa laughed, and took it out of his hands, holding it up to admire it.
Meanwhile, Seth was still struggling up the side of the house. Summer was watching him through the open window, and she couldn't help but laugh.
"Cohen, just come through the front door." She called down, and added as an afterthought. "Before you get hurt." Seth grabbed hold of a protruding brick, and pulled him self up with the little muscle he had. He reached the white windowsill, and rested his arms on it, legs dangling.
"So, Summer…a little help please?" Seth asked, as Summer folded her arms, standing ground.
"How do I know I want to hear what you have to say?" She asked, face stony. "I mean, you've already made me like, cry, once tonight." Seth felt his heart break at the sight of her upset face, wishing he could do anything to go back to earlier that night.
"Summer, I came here to just say one thing to you tonight." Seth started, hands gripping the windowsill, knuckles turning white. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for being a screw-up, I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to hurt you, everything I've ever done to upset you, I'm sorry for trying to move on with Alex." He looked into her eyes intently. "But the truth is, I can't. I can't and I never will be able to. I tried once before, and it didn't work. I tried it again, and guess what, it didn't work. And that's blatantly because I'm still in love with you. So…woah, woaaaah!" His hand slipped, and the rope gave a sickening ripping sound. Summer gasped.
"Cohen!" She leaned out further, and saw him lying in the flowerbed. "Seth!" Summer turned and ran down the stairs, rushing out to the front of the house. "Are you okay!" He tried to get up, a hand to his back, but quickly went back down. Summer brushed his hair out of his eyes, and smiled sadly.
"I'm. ...well, I'll live." Seth gave a faint smile. "So, what do you say, Summer? Will you give us another go?" Summer bit her lip. Why did he have to be so damn cute? She searched his eyes, and could see nothing but truth in them. She decided she done enough crying, and deserved a second chance. Slowly she bent her head down, and kissed him. All of the love Seth had been storing inside came out in the kiss, and he knew this time round, they where going to make it work.
Ryan and Marissa peeked around the car, after hearing Seth's girlish scream and a thud. Marissa smiled as she saw her two friends re-unite. She leant her head on Ryan's shoulder.
"Hey, let's get out of here." Ryan said softly, and gripped her hand gently, he too looking at the sight of Seth and Summer. "Leave them to it."
"Ry, I'm in my pajamas!" Marissa turned and shoved him playfully. "And it's so cold!"
"Well, put on your new jumper, then." Ryan smiled, and handed it to her. Marissa put it on, shrugging it over her shoulders. They were about to walk off, when Seth called out to them.
"Hey, where do you two think you're going?" Seth had struggled up , and was now standing with an arm wrapped around Summer. "It's slumber party time!" Ryan turned and looked at Marissa, who smiled and nodded. The four raced back into the house, collapsing simultaneously on Summer's bed, grateful that they had finally all found what they were searching for.
"Kiki!" Julie said, waving a hand in front of Kirsten's face, wildly trying to get her attention. "So, I was thinking fuchsia in the main bedroom, and maybe a light baby blue in the bathroom? Or is that too contemporary?" Julie sat opposite Kirsten at her desk, poring over plans for yet another model home she was designing the interior of. Kirsten snapped out of her day-dream, and looked at what Julie was pointing at.
"Oh, no I'm sure that will be fine." Kirsten smiled quickly, and regained her composure. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little stressed. With Christmas coming up and all."
"It's that time of year already?" Julie answered, hand on her stomach. "These past few months have simply flown by!"
"Tell me about it." Kirsten replied, thinking about all that had happened over the recent months. She was still trying to get her head around the fact that her dad was having a baby that would be her half-sister with a woman several years younger than her. In fact, she was still trying to get around the fact that her dad had actually married Julie Cooper. It was late November and Julie Cooper was around 2 months pregnant. Caleb didn't seem too pleased lately, and was spending time at the Newport Groups Office's long into the night, and Kirsten hadn't even seen him for the past two weeks. "Julie, how has my dad been lately? I haven't seen him in ages?"
Julie looked up, and took a sip of her coffee. "Cal?" Julie responded after a few minutes. "Oh, he's fine. You know him, turning every small problem into a huge drama. He's just a bit uptight that's all."
"You know what, I might go see him today, is he in his office?" Kirsten asked, getting up and sorting some files into her bag. Julie stood up abruptly.
"Oh, no, no he's had to go to a meeting today." Julie nodded, confirming her words. "In . . San Diego." She flashed a smile at Kirsten, who seemed a little surprised at Julie's alertness.
"Um, okay, I guess I'll see him tomorrow then." Kirsten replied, unsurely, as Julie gathered the plans up, and nodded.
"Yeah, I've got to go get all this fixed with Todd from Accounting, so I'll see you, Kirsten." Kirsten waved Julie off, and set back in her chair, sighing.
A/N So, hope you liked it. I'm going away again for a few days so I won't be able to post for like a week. But when I get back, I expect reviews, okay people! Oh, and one more thing I wasn't sure whether to write about the slumber party, so tell me if you want me to your review ok? Thanks!