Summary: The last of the Comic-Con acts. Seth and Marissa share a love for pancakes, talking to each other and drowning each other's food in syrup all in the confines of a musty diner.
Story Notes: So here we have finally arrived. It's the last act of the Comic-Con trip. Another phase of the series has come to an end. But it's a perfect little bridge to the next phase of the series. When we come into the next act senior year will have begun, and we can assume a few weeks of schooling have past. The acts will become more sporadic and spread apart. Most of our favorite O.C. characters will filter in as needed. But they will continue to be the backdrop to the main story we are still telling, Seth and Marissa's. Things may seem good and smooth now. But don't think the drama is gone. They'll be a few twists and surprises yet to come.
BTW, the title for this act comes from Dave Matthew's Band's "Best of What's Around". Definitely one of my favorite songs of all time, and it fits perfectly with this act.
Disclaimer: So I kind of wish I owned Undeclared because it was like really funny and stuff. But, ah, The O.C. not as much. I mean Seth is just the watered down love child of Steven, but Steven was more into Damm Yankees and Spinal Tap over the emo music. And I'm just babbling. But Undeclared very fun and you should own it on DVD. Oh yeah and I don't own The O.C. I mean I own it on DVD, but I don't own the writing and the characters and stuff. So, ah, yeah. I'll shut up now.
Feedback: It's been a while my friends. I am so sorry for not updating till now. But I do appreciate the feedback from the last act and other notes that have trickled in over time.
----------------
"Hey, what's going on?"
"Sitting here, waiting for you," Marissa replied back to Seth as she hunched over in her booth seating.
"So did you miss me?"
"No."
"Really? I didn't think I was so forgettable. Actually I did, but you know."
Marissa turned her head in and brought down her positioning of it.
"Actually no. I don't. Anyway, It's hard to miss anything when a man named Crecio is rubbing my body down."
Seth cocked his eyes and then sighed.
"Well then, I can understand."
Marissa brought herself back into her seat surprised by Seth's comments.
"So you're not jealous."
"Only jealous with envy that I couldn't get the same treatment."
"Well if we come next year I'll have to set you up an appointment."
"It was irony and wit Marissa. You gotta learn not to take me so literal."
"Right. You mean like when you said I made your heart race? I shouldn't have taken that literal either I guess."
The truth was Marissa still made his heart race. But he wasn't prepared to admit it and didn't really know if the information was all that relevant at this time. They had gotten through the first few days of their trip to Comic-Con rather smoothly. They were friendly. They were friends. The occasional awkward tension passed before either of them could take a long pause to reflect on it.
"I don't know. Those events from yester-day are a little fuzzy. I'm too busy looking ahead, into our very bright future."
"Oh really?"
"Yup, this is our year," Seth said with great glee.
"Our year?"
Seth made sure to reword himself.
"The year of the great fantastic four Marissa. This, this will, will be our best senior year, our best year."
"I guess. Although drama seems to follow us no matter how hard we try to will it away."
"True, true. But look at it this way. The whole Ryan baby drama has passed and is being dealt with by all of us. And all of our breaks-ups and shifts have settled and we came out of this strong and as friends and… well you get the idea. Finally the fantastic four is fantastic and without the weird sexual tension between Sue Storm and Reed Richards."
"I guess your right. This could be a brighter year than all the rest provided nothing weird happens."
"A brighter day is upon us Marissa. I can feel it, smell it," Seth said as he breathed in the air around him. "Hmm and I smell some damm good pancakes. When are we ordering?"
"So what about living in the moment? That's good too right? You know taking it one day at a time."
Seth shifted his position and his thoughts drifted away from hot, syrup covered, pancakes.
"Well, I always liked Valerie Bertinelli. She was kind of hot. Oh, us taking it one day at a time. That works too. But just keep remembering, brighter days. Bright as the Orange County horizons on a hot sunny sun-filled day."
"I'm starving," Marissa intervened.
"Well I wanted to order like an hour ago."
"You've only been here ten minutes."
Just as Seth was readying himself to respond back a middle-aged, mildly attractive, waitress came up to their table. Seth eased away from facing Marissa and slowly lifted his head up to face the over-worked woman. When Marissa noticed his head shift away she followed and then too noticed the waitress standing before them.
"Can I get you something guys?"
"Yeah some menus would help," Seth said a bit snippy.
The waitress rested her hand on her hip and looked down on Seth condescendingly. Marissa turned to Seth and tried to give him a silent look one that convey he should lay off.
"How can one properly order if we don't have menus," Seth said.
Marissa looked back at the waitress and gave a half-grin.
"I'm really sorry. I just thought I'd take your drink orders first. It's been such a long day for me," the waitress responded. "I've been running like mad since…"
She looked down to her watch.
"Since four o'clock."
Seth and Marissa both looked up at the clock that rested above the cash register.
"It's only six o'clock," Marissa hushed under her breath.
"What's that sweetie," the waitress asked.
Seth awkwardly ran his hands down his legs and retreated into his shell. He kept his silence.
"Oh nothing," Marissa replied.
"So drinks?" The waitress asked as she reached over and took two menus out of the hands of the worker that passed by her. She didn't pay any attention to where the other waitress was heading and if the menus where to be in use elsewhere.
"Here you go guys. Two menus. Now I recommend the quiche, but whatever you guys want we'll fry up."
"Yoo-Hoo?"
"Well Yoo-Hoo to you too. Of all the ways to call me out," the waitress said back to Seth.
Seth relented and sighed. No witty remark would suffice the waitress not knowing what a Yoo-Hoo was.
"I'll start with a coffee milk. I need my calcium and my caffeine," Seth said.
"And I'll take a scotch, no ice."
"Right, ok." the waitress said with a chipper smile
Seth jerked back in the warm and comfortable position he created inside the booth.
"I was kidding," Marissa said as her brows came down.
Marissa was a little confused.
"I'll take a cranberry juice."
"Ok, I can do that too. So you kids from Newport?"
"Yeah how did you guess," Marissa asked.
"I absolutely love Newport Living. Read it all the time."
"And you recognize Marissa's mug shot from the photo spread of the Newpsie fundraiser for battered woman? She was a fish out of water that night. But a cute fish out of water."
Seth squirmed and smiled. He even started to coo and giggle.
"We were two fish in the water actually," Marissa said as she fondly started to remember their wet adventures in the office park.
Seth gave a warm, but still childish smile.
"Haven't a clue. I mean I think I've seen his mug shot before, with some painfully concrete old guy," the waitress said making mention of Seth.
"Oh that would have been Caleb. His grandfather, and as I like to forget, my stepfather. But he's dead now anyway, so…"
"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that."
"I'm not," Marissa said.
The waitress smiled as she was surprised Marissa was just a satirical as she was.
"Hey I actually kind of liked the guy when he brought home that porn star grandma and wasn't verbally jabbing me about my lack of masculinity," Seth said.
"And how often was that," Marissa asked in a casual but still interested tone.
"Ah, once, twice, maybe three times a year."
The waitress let out a light, but forced, laugh and then turned to a neighboring table to steal off the tip left behind. Both Marissa and Seth watched on in shock as she slipped the money into her uniform.
"So I'll be right back to take your order's, kay?"
Seth nodded indecisively and then looked down at his menu.
"You know I'm sorry we didn't hit that other dinner," Marissa said.
"We came all this way just so you could hit a Del Taco."
"I couldn't help it if I had a craving for bean burritos."
"And a Phat Taco and a chicken soft taco."
"I was hungry," Marissa said defensively.
Seth laughed almost silently and then smiled at Marissa. Marissa smiled back when she realized Seth was taking a softer line.
"Ah, its ok. I like a woman who can hold her own with a few burritos," Seth said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, and have a stomach for the Delscorcho sauce, A certain something I know some woman couldn't handle. It's hot. I mean it makes you hot. I mean weird mix of metaphors and literalism and I'm confused."
Marissa laughed with a warm, bright, smile as she brought her arm up and playfully brushed against Seth's shoulder.
"So I'm still hot?"
Seth retreated back into his shell and brought his head down into his chest. He quickly grabbed the menu and brought it up to his face.
"You know if you'd just admit you're still hot for me this would go a lot smoother."
Seth scoffed while he still kept himself buried in the menu. His legs nervously twitched.
"I would like to forego the obvious awkward tension that would follow said confession," Seth said.
"So you are still hot for me?"
Seth took defeat and started to shift his body to his right side. He might not face her, but he wasn't going to ignore her either.
"Yes Marissa Cooper, you still make my bones shiver and my heart race. But that doesn't mean I'm hot for you and that I'm bailing on this no friends agreement thing."
"I'll accept the akin words. Now, that wasn't so hard for you to admit was it?"
"The awkward tension is building as we speak. It's driving this forcible wall between us and, and, and I just can't break it down," Seth said frantically.
"No tension on my side. Actually there hasn't been any tension for me this whole weekend."
"I'm glad to see that the ongoing adjustments from bedroom make-out to playful comic book jaunt is going well for you Marissa. Really."
"And it's not for you?"
Seth couldn't muster what to say next. He wanted to believe he had came through this weekend smoothly. Truth was he had. But he wasn't sure if he wanted her to know how well he made it through without coming from behind her and kissing her neck or doing any of the other things he wanted to do just before he bolted for the drawing class that never was.
"Let's just leave this at the hot talk. I didn't draw Cosmo girl like that for nothing. Friends pack and all you're still hot. Even hotter with a nice female companion. Have you talked to Alex lately?"
Marissa sighed as she picked up her menu. She then affectionately smiled before opening her mouth.
"Well thank you," Marissa responded.
Seth was instantly taken aback by the simple words.
"That's it?"
"What do you want me to say? I have to keep these fun times all clean and platonic. Don't think I didn't see you checking me out the other night in our hotel room. I saw your one eye opened."
"It was both, and I was merely making sure you were safe in that little get up of yours."
"In case of what? The wake-up call guy coming to stalk me in the middle of the night."
"Hey it could happen. I saw it in some strange Steven Sagal rip-off movie my dad was watching on Spike."
"Right, well what would you have done to protect me anyway? All the punching and protecting is more of a Ryan thing obviously. I saw your body almost naked. You don't have the manly frame."
Seth's ego was becoming a bit bruised but he kept his silence for a few seconds anyway.
"Fine, the truth hurts, but it's still the truth. Even I know it," Seth said finally claiming verbal defeat.
"Well look whose become all grown-up."
"Yes Marissa, even I can just shake it off. The child in me will be no more."
"No!"
"No?"
"Keep it in you, the child. That's what I love about you. So free and alive."
"And scared of the night and my Joker nightlight all at the same time. God, who are we fooling!"
"You're so open and optimistic about the future and this whole friends thing, which really I thought you'd kind of cave under it all. But you haven't. It gives me hope."
"Well there you go. Now where did our waitress go? This stomach will crack under the pressure of having no food since those goldfish crackers I passed off as lunch."
"Awww, you poor thing. Let me see if I can motion her. She is right behind you."
The waitress overheard their grumbling and intercepted on the customers she was serving. She picked up the plates of food she had just served down and repositioned them on the table of the booth where Seth and Marissa were sitting.
"Here you go guys."
"But we haven't even ordered yet," Marissa said in concerned tone.
"Right, well you were hungry and the pancakes here are to die for."
Seth cautiously watched the waitress move, babble, and steal right from under her customers two stakes of pancakes covered in butter. The waitress didn't even smirk. She just turned herself around and went back to the kitchen counter to place another order.
"Ok this has been eventful. Maybe all diners outside of Newport have service like this?"
"Somehow I think this is a rather unique experience," Seth responded back.
"Well at least we got what we would of ordered anyway."
"Well I could do without all this fattening butter," Seth said as his clumsily and timidly pushed off the melting butter with his fork.
"It's only butter, it's not lard. Wait, well…," Marissa said confusing herself.
Seth tilted up and quickly grabbed for the container of syrup that rested on the table.
"Oh, let's just cover up your pancakes is sweet sugary concoctions. And…"
Seth hovered the bottle over her stack. Marissa squealed and then reached out for the bottle, but instead crashed with Seth's hands.
"Seth no! Not again!"
The last time Seth drowned her pancakes in gooey syrup they were sitting across each other at the Newport diner. These were the times before the dramatic shift in their relationship and feelings. Perhaps, if they really thought about it, they'd see it as the springboard to all the changes. The moment being just a starter point to the inevitable end.
Now they sat almost side-by-side inside a musty, atmospheric, diner on the final day of their trip to Comic-Con. Come tomorrow they'd be back on the road heading to home. It wouldn't be home as it had been created with the two of them over the summer months, but home as a stationary place of shelter. And it would also be a place where they would begin to embrace the start of their senior year.
The syrup flowed out from the slip of the bottle and poured all over her pancakes and a good part of the table.
"That's a bit of a mess there, you might want to clean that up," Seth said directly to Marissa as the waitress passed by them with a new order of pancakes for the customers behind their booth.
Seth went back into his seat trying to act coy and innocent. The waitress passed by with a brief glance in their direction but didn't even flinch.
Marissa started to show a mischievous smile and then turned away from Seth. Being as stealth as possible she grabbed the bottle from the table and eased it over Seth's stack. But it was just shy of the pancakes. Her intended course and aim was the sausage links. She knew how well he liked to mix his syrup with his breakfast meat. It wasn't very well at all.
Just as Seth was casually watching the waitress deal with her befuddled customers Marissa started to drown his links in a sea of golden sugar. Seth sensed a change in food dynamic and started to turn back.
"What are you doing?"
Marissa smiled but said nothing.
"The whole balance of my food is off. I, I can't even look at it. It's greatly disturbed me and now I refuse to eat," Seth said aggrieved.
The waitress passed by again this time taking note of his bizarre vocal irruption. Marissa caught glance of her watchful eye and responded.
"He's going through his Howard Hughes phase. You'll have to forgive him," Marissa said as her hand wandered over to Seth's.
It rested on the booth seating. Seth was slumped back and had pushed his plate forward. The alarming touch of Marissa's hand brought him back to himself and allowed him to make eye contact with the waitress.
"We'll be fine. He'll be a big boy, right Seth?"
Seth turned in to face Marissa and nodded like a now obeying child responding back to his mother.
"I think we had our fun," Marissa said as she pushed the syrup container aside and away from their reach.
Seth's growling stomach prompted him forward and the whiff of fresh pancakes made his hand take reach of the fork. He brought it down into his pancakes and took out a semi-large chunk. He firmly placed it inside his mouth and started to chew.
"These would never come out our kitchen. Maybe burned, toasted, and covered in molasses. And no one in our family likes molasses."
Marissa gave a genuine laugh and then turned further inside her booth to come face-to-face with Seth.
"These may actually be better than the Newport diner, even if the place smells like past-date mayonnaise and the jukebox looks like it came out of a biker bar," Seth added.
"I didn't even notice. Let me grab a quarter and pick out a song."
Marissa's grin widened as she reached into her pocket to pull out her change. She then raced over to the dusty jukebox and sifted through the page listing of songs.
"So when will this road trip continue? There's so many more stops for us to take still," Marissa shouted out to Seth.
"I don't know. But I think the time will come. An opening will open just for us. Maybe Ryan and Summer too. It could be the four of us in roadster action."
Marissa's grin started to ease as she thought about the journey coming ahead with the fantastic four. The whole concept of following their own Kerouacian dream had always been a part of them and their dreams. And it was always best dreamed when they dreamed it being just the two of them. Marissa didn't really want it any other way. She never dreamed of it any other way, not when Seth entered her life this past summer.
Marissa dropped her quarter in the coin slot and then pressed a set of numbers for her song of choice.
"So special friend," Seth started to say.
Hey, my friend
It seems your eyes are troubled
Care to share your time with me
Would you say you're feeling low and so
A good idea would be to get it off of your mind
Marissa turned her body back and smiled. She took keen interest in what Seth would say next as she walked back to their booth.
"How has this weekend shaped up?"
"You tell me. You're the one who invited me."
See, you and me
Have a better time than most can dream
Have it better than the best
And so can pull on through
Whatever tears at us
Whatever holds us down
And if nothing can be done
We'll make the Best of What's Around
"I'd say this Wonder Woman sex charged weekend was perfect. I just wish we could of spent more time together. And a little less time being viewed half-naked in my batman pajamas."
"Really? I mean not about the half nakedness, although it was rather cute," Marisa said with her hugest smile yet.
"Yeah," Seth said as he brought his head down a few inches checking himself out. He then worked on more of his pancakes, still ignoring the syrup covered sausage links.
Turns out not where but who you're with
That really matters
That really matters
And hurts not much when you're around
When you're around
"Well next time I'll schedule a few less rub downs from Creico."
"It's a sacrifice I know," he responded sarcastically but with a hint of heart.
Marissa started to giggle and brought her arms back up to Seth's shoulder. She started to push it in when she changed course and brought her arm around Seth's neck. Her other hand traveled up to Seth's scruffy hair. She ran her fingers though it.
And if you hold on tight
To what you think is your thing
You may find you're missing all the rest
She ran up into the light surprised
Her arms are open
Her mind's eye is...
"Maybe there is a brighter day ahead. Maybe our fixed point is here. And that can't be a bad thing."
Seth gave his usual childish grin and showcased his giddiness.
"See Marissa, I am wise and right and... All you ever had to do was trust in me and my rightness."
"But I always did trust in you," Marissa said back as she aggressively scuffed up his hair.
"Yeah," Seth said in a questioning tone.
"Yeah," she said smiling.
A now disheveled looking Seth took a large sip of his coffee milk and confidently leaned back into the booth. Everything seemed to be falling into place. The plan Seth had set before them was underway and with out much formidable awkward tension. This was the start of a new future, the road to a brighter day. But it would be a day where Seth and Marissa would never discover what could have been. The loss didn't seem to weigh on their minds right now. They were too engrossed in each other's company, a few good pancakes, and some Dave Matthews Band. But the impact of the loss would be sure to impact them down the road, right?
Just as Seth took his last bite of pancake, making sure to first run it through the puddle of syrup that was on his plate, he was startled to hear the roots groves of the Dave Matthews coming through the jukebox.
Seeing things from a
Better side than most can dream
On a better road I feel
So you could say she's safe
Whatever tears at her
Whatever holds her down
And if nothing can be done
She'll make the best of what's around
"I totally love this song," Marissa said.
Seth couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't believe he aligned himself with a friend who listened to music that inspired a select group of Harbor High students to smoke pot in soccer fields, wear hemp woven pants, and nonsensically talk about Newport people buying land rovers over hybrid vehicles.
"So will this song be over before we leave or will we have to stick around for another three days just to hear it end?"
"Hey, that's not funny. Ok it is, but..."
"See and true, very very true. Couldn't you have least chosen something by The String Cheese Incident? I heard their stoner jam sessions only go for one festival long day."
"Come on! Just listen to the lyrics," Marissa said grabbing at Seth's hand.
See, you and me
Have a better time than most can dream
Have it better than the best
And so can pull on through
Whatever tears at us
Whatever holds us down
And if nothing can be done
We'll make the Best of What's Around
Seth looked to the left and right of their table and was relieved to see no opportune space for dancing.
"This can be like our theme song. Our song."
"Ok," Seth hesitantly said.
"You really need to get into the spirit of the music. There is more out there then depressing emo music."
"Yeah, depressing punk music, which I thought you liked. Not this generic and hippie, but essentially un-hippie music."
"I'm full of diversity. There's so much I guess you have yet to learn about me," Seth said following with a sincere smile.
"I guess so. Just promise me no grateful dead, I think my dad used to listen to them and get high. It's a visual I refuse to have."
Marissa playfully giggled as she stretched out Seth's arm. She pulled gently, but enough for him to cry pain. It never took much for Seth to cry out in pain. But his pain quickly turned to great ease. He laughed back and started to smile. His grin was so wide. Both their smiles and laughter illuminated the crowded dinning room.
Turns out not where but who you're with
That really matters
That really matters
That really matters
And hurts not much when you're around
When you're around
The waitress was sure to have passed by at least once. Other patrons were sure to have caught a glance of their pleasurable behavior. Neither of them would have noticed. They were beyond blissful. This was their moment of perfection. But with senior year about to begin could perfect sustain past a moment and into the coming school year? The wanted to believe it could. But the truth was, even they didn't know it, neither of them really knew.
http/