"Brendan, we have to go!" Marissa grabbed her pocketbook off the bedside table, shoving a few dollar bills into it, and shouting louder down the stairs. "Where are you? Bren..."

"I'm right here. Sorry I was late." Marissa spun around, feeling her husband's arms around her waist.

"What took so long?"

"Ms. Feldman's divorce doesn't want to close. She keeps complaining about something else she can't live without, and, oh, baby, I'm sorry. Were you waiting a long time?"

Marissa shrugged. "I went shopping with Summer today. We got back, like, six-ish, so not that bad."

"Okay. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes. Are you going to brush your hair?"

"I did...yes." He caught himself.

"Thank you, baby."

She thrust a comb into his chest. Brendan took a gentle hand to tilt up her chin, kissing her lightly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a touch of concern in his eyes.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason."

"Okay, then. Let's go." Marissa grabbed the comb, leafed it through his hair a few times, and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the house.

The Newpsie parties never would end. Marissa realized that she chose a profession that made her deal with these women constantly, but she still hadn't recovered from that two year stint with some bartender. Even Brendan didn't know about that. Besides Ryan, Luke, and Brendan, of course, Marissa had only had one real relationship. She didn't even see the girl anymore. Rumor said she became some rock star's wife, tagging along from stage to stage. Brendan actually didn't know a lot. Actually, the only people who really did know the whole story were Ryan and Summer. Well, Summer, but Marissa had great reason to believe that she had told Ryan everything.

In the Bentley, Marissa glanced over at her husband and noticed that his tie was the exact same color as the lining of her dress. Well, it wasn't like she just noticed; she had set the suit out for him on the bed, because she knew he would be coming home late. But she saw his tie, and she glanced down at her dress. Julie used to always do stuff like that.

"Riss! God, you look gorgeous!" Summer threw her arms around Marissa's neck, kissing her cheek. Seth's ears started to pink.

"Hey, Sum...are you drunk?"

"Maybe," Summer sang. Chris walked up in between the two of them.

"Yes. She is." He rolled his eyes and smiled at Marissa.

"Hey, Chris, when did your plane get in?"

"Nine o'clock. But we were late, because Daddy fell asleep on the plane, and they had to ask us to leave."

"Really?"

Chris nodded, rolling his eyes again. Seth took his hand.

"But he got to sleep in his own bed last night, right, Chris?"

He nodded again, squeezing Seth's hand.

"And Summer isn't that drunk," Seth murmured into Marissa's ear. "Just some martinis with my mom."

"Ah." Marissa nodded, smiling at Kirsten, walking in behind Summer.

"But I'm not drunk." Kirsten patted Summer on the shoulder. "And it's cold out here, let's go in."

Sandy took hold of his wife's elbow, smiling at Marissa and walking in.

"But really, Riss, you look beautiful." Summer nodded knowingly.

Marissa smiled. "Thanks, Sum, you too." She turned to Seth. "You look hot too."

He smiled, kissing her cheek too. "As do you. Hey Brendan."

Brendan smiled too, finally acknowledged. Marissa looked back at Seth. "Are Ryan and Jenn back?"

"Uh, almost. They started driving a little late, so they were just going to meet us here."

"They stayed another night?"

Seth nodded. "Kind of the reason my mom wanted to have martinis with Summer."

Marissa's eyes softened, remembering the last time Kirsten had loaded up on the martinis, margaritas, and whatever. This was different though. Ryan knew his place, and he wouldn't dream of taking Jenn away from hers.

Seth knew once Summer got into the room, she would be fine. Anyways, a drunk woman wasn't anything that caught one's eye at this kind of party. He couldn't believe that he'd actually missed this. There weren't as many black tie events as he remembered, so when this one came, he had welcomed it. A little less so when Summer made him look at every dress she had that was "appropriate for this sort of thing"; even less so when he realized that tying a tie was not at all like riding a bike; lesser still when a forty year old woman spilled her drink on his arm, dabbing ferociously with a smile on her lips.

"What's your name, sweetie?" She had too blonde hair with almost a faint of light brown roots showing. He was about to open his mouth when a perfectly composed Summer, still looking unbelievably good in a dark midnight blue evening down, stood in front of him.

"Hi, Mrs. Cartimane, you're looking awfully tired; are you sure you're getting enough sleep?"

"Why yes, I believe so." The woman looked stunned, the wrinkles not showing on her forehead.

"Wow, it must just be you, then. Could you excuse us?" Summer grabbed Seth's tie, trailing him after her and into a bathroom. She pushed him up against the closed door, kissing him tightly and firmly. He was just about to kiss her back when she pulled away and shook her head.

"Never. Get. Lost. Here." She tapped his nose and sighed. "You're welcome."

She opened the door again, getting back to her fake laughs. Seth just shook his head and went off in search of Sandy, smiling at Marissa who looked like she was doing everything to keep herself from hitting the woman she was talking to.

Ryan helped Jenn adjust her dress's hem.

"Where did you get this?" Ryan nodded up to Jenn.

"Uh, Summer and I went shopping like a month ago."

"Oh."

He finished pulling down the skirt and offered her his arm.

"Shall we?"

Jenn nodded, taking his hand and walking in with him. Once they got in, Jenn pointed out a tall girl for nine and said bye to Ryan. He shoved his hands into his pants' pockets, beelining a forty year old woman stumbling with a drink so he could get to Sandy and Seth.

"Hey, man, how was..." Seth's mouth was still open when Summer grabbed his arm, pulling him towards a group of people he had to meet with a hi to Ryan. Sandy smiled at him.

"They're cute, aren't they?"

Ryan nodded, turning to Sandy to ask him something when Kirsten came over, not smiling as wide as she was before.

"H-Hi, Ryan. Sandy...I don't feel so good."

"All right, honey. Ryan, could you excuse us?" Sandy took Kirsten's elbow again, heading towards the bathroom. Ryan sighed, looking around at the people he didn't know, and just walked towards the balcony. He sat down on a bench, his eyes catching the only other person hiding.

"Ryan? Not being social at a Newport party? Now I've seen everything." Marissa looked at him from her seat on the balcony's ledge, running her hands up her arms.

He smiled. "Why aren't you in there?"

"Sick of it. I think I'm becoming one of them." She shivered lightly, smiling even lighter.

"Here." He stood up and lay his jacket around her shoulders.

"Thanks."

"Where's Brendan?"

"He found a guy whose divorce he handled. They're talking about wife number two."

"Ah."

"Yeah. It's so comforting for my husband to talk all day to men who hate their wives."

"I bet."

Marissa's giggle started to fade. She cocked her head slightly to the left.

"So how was Chino?"

Ryan shrugged and leaned against the balcony beside her. "I missed it."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "It's so...comforting."

"How was Ms. Cabala?"

"Jenn likes her. It took a little, but by the time we were leaving they were reading and telling each other stories. Jenn likes anyone who'll listen."

Marissa laughed. "I've noticed. So are you guys going to see her again?"

Ryan nodded. "Sometime soon."

Marissa smiled, looking down as she asked, "Did she talk about Theresa?"

"Yeah." Ryan leaned his weight onto his hands on the stone of the balcony. "She hasn't heard a lot from her, but she knows she's okay and stuff. I think she knows where she is too."

"She didn't tell you?"

"No. It's just a guess anyway. She might now know where she is at all. She's gotten phone calls."

Marissa nodded. "And you're wondering why you didn't."

Ryan shrugged. "I thought she might want to know what her daughter's like."

Marissa looked at his eyes, staring at some crack in the wall opposite them. Focused as if he was counting the pieces of plaster. She leaned her cheek down on his shoulder.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I am. Okay. It was good to see her."

"Are you scared?" Marissa was almost whispering.

Ryan nodded and spoke almost as quietly. "Yeah."

Brendan, holding a glass of champagne, came out, stopping when he saw the two of them.

"Marissa, Ryan, sorry to...interrupt, but, um, honey? Are you ready to go? Everyone's pretty much past drunk in there now."

Marissa nodded, looking back at Ryan for a second. She kissed his cheek, making him smile, before hopping off and taking her husband's offered arm.

By the end of the night, Summer was one of the most sober women in the room. She was holding onto Seth's belt loop, smiling at all the people drunker than she was.

"Seth. You want to get out of here?"

Seth turned his face to look at her. "We can't. My parents."

"They're fine. Kirsten threw up, but she's better now. Sandy says she'll be fine. And you drove here, so we have a car."

"What about Chris?"

Summer nodded over to a bench on the side of the room where Chris was asleep, his head drooping onto his shoulder. Summer walked over to him, bending down to his level.

"Baby?" She shook his hand, making him yawn, and his eyes crust open.

"Mommy? I'm..." yawn. "I'm tired."

"I know, sweetie. Do you want to go home?"

Chris's eyes were heavy, but he just shrugged. Summer smiled, slipping Chris into the crook of her elbow.

"Let's go, babe."

Summer cradled his head with her other hand, kissing Seth quickly when he pointed towards the balcony.

"Don't take too long."

He nodded, and Summer walked over to Kirsten and Sandy, rocking Chris back to sleep.

Ryan had turned around on the ledge, watching the teenagers making out in the courtyard beneath him.

Seth tapped his shoulder and leaned his elbows against the balcony.

"Hey, man, how's it going?"

Ryan shrugged. "It's all right. Did you see Jenn in there?"

"Yeah, her and a gaggle of about seven."

Ryan laughed under his breath, nodding. "That's Jenn."

"How'd she like Chino?"

"It grew on her I guess."

"Like mold?"

"Something like that. Like Newport Beach grew on me."

Seth nodded, patting Ryan's back. "If you need to talk, man, you know..."

"I know."

"All right. We're gonna go, so I'll see you."

"See you."

Ryan turned back to the courtyard and trees as tall as the building. Seth pulled in his lips and nodded, finding Summer and Chris and walking out with them.

Chris was back to sleep when they pulled into the driveway. Seth carried him into the pool house, laying him silently on the bed. As he was closing the door, he heard a "goodnight, Seth." He whispered good night back and walked into the main house.

Summer was twirling a water bottle with her finger on the kitchen table. She twirled her head with it, but stopped when she saw Seth.

"Did he stay asleep?"

"For the most part."

She smiled and stood up, braceletting his wrist with her fingers. He sucked in a breath, blinking his eyes a few times.

"You tired?" She tilted her head to one side. He shook his no.

"I'm fine." He stepped closer to her, kissing her lips as lightly as she thought was humanly possible. He was either really into teasing her, or he wasn't in the mood. It was always better to assume the worst.

Summer stepped backward, putting distance between them. She lay a hand on his chest, keeping it. She smiled, knowing there was no question. She was most definitely tying to tease him.

"Because you can go to bed if you want."

"You better be in there with me."

"You need your sleep. You have school tomorrow."

He grinned and laughed ever so slightly. "Yes, I do. But I think I can risk it."

She smiled sweetly and as innocently as she could. "You shouldn't. It's a school night. Your mother wouldn't want you to stay up on a school night."

"My mother is the last person I'm thinking about."

"Oh yeah? Who's the first?" Her eyes were looking at him, big with wonder.

"Definitely Ryan. That kid's hot shit."

Summer giggled as his arms encircled her. He buried his face in her neck, the soft gentle, light kisses forgotten. She leaned backwards, his arms preventing her from escaping, so that she could see his face. She sighed.

"Staying up late on a school night. Bad boy."

"Only for you." He kissed her lips lightly again, smiling at her as he pulled back. Then he leaned forward again, kissing her for just a second. She rolled her eyes, grabbed his hand, and pulled him upstairs.

Seth sat down on his bed, bunching her evening gown up, and pulling up her legs with him, one on each side. His kiss was hard but long, playing with the ends of her hair with his pointer finger. She rested a hand on either side of his neck, softly rocking her pelvis and tightening her legs around his thighs.

Okay, so I was going to write the rest of that scene, but it wasn't good writing, so I'll let you guys use your imaginations. None of The O.C. belongs to me, Josh Schwartz and FOX are super cool. Peace out...(Bill Cosby: 'Since when is peace out? I thought peace was always in.')