Summary: This continues right from the last act. Seth has raced up the stairs to meet with Marissa. Thanksgiving continues.

Story Notes: This grounds itself around Seth and Marissa leaving the rest of our family to fall into the background. I'm sorry I didn't get this out before Thanksgiving in the US. But there were some issues and dealings to attend to this week. If I don't fluff up the series with some acts the next will have themes of Chrismukkah. Don't expect a chipper Seth or Marissa. But do expect more angst and drama. And Lindsay, be on the look out for your lip-to-lip action. It may be fast approaching.

Title from "Hold Me" by Weezer. Google the lyrics if you want.

Disclaimer: ON MY GOD! The Thanksgiving bird was stuffed with Marissa and Seth. The closed-in encounter left them to deal with sexual tension like not even Sonny and Brenda, from General Hospital, had to deal with in the catacombs. I totally got you right? Seth and Marissa in a Turkey? The General Hospital writers could easily write something that silly. But neither of us owns the characters of The O.C. so it's not going to happen. Sorry folks.

Feedback: If you could feedback that would be lovely. Thank you kindly.

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"Hey, you ok," Seth asked with a bit of hesitation as he faced her closed bedroom door.

Marissa said nothing but Seth wouldn't claim her silence as way to banish him. He trailed his hand on the doorknob and gave in to its easy release. Her door was not locked.

He entered her room cautiously making mental notes of his surroundings. The littlest things caught his eye and sparked his memory. Other things were foreign objects. They represented the space and time that, since the summer, had slowly divided them.

Marissa slowly lifted her head as Seth walked further into her room. Somberly her eyes wandered to his direction. This was no clear indication if she wanted to him to come inside, but, he wandered in anyway.

"This was supposed to be as close to perfect as we could make it. This was supposed to be us hanging out all the time and being friends. But all I feel is you pulling further and further away," She said.

Seth froze in his tracks. He couldn't say anything even though he desperately wanted to ease her pain. But what pain could he ease? It was becoming clear to him that this was about more than Luke and her mother. It was about the indifference he showed her tonight. It was about the indifference he showed for the past few weeks.

"I just can't believe this. Luke, my mom. How does it always go under my radar Seth? How is it that I'm always the last to know?"

Seth's silence remained. Pacing in a fix point in her room he watched her. In his site he saw her pensive behavior, her wearied tone, and the water that was forming in her eyes.

"Well if it makes you feel better, we really didn't see this one coming and Luke, Luke no longer shaves his chest," he said as he repositioned out of standing, pressing his ass against her bed.

The two of them where now sitting side-by-side.

"And that makes me feel better how?"

"Err, it is rather creepy. Ok, actually I was totally freaked out by it myself. I still am," Seth replied.

Marissa tried to laugh but was too distressed. Her face merely wandered Seth's face. She was dazed and lifeless. Seth could see she was trying to crack a more joyful emotion but couldn't gather the strength. He flashed her his warmest smile to brighten her mood. Then, slowly, he reached his hand up and traced the single tear that had fallen from her eyes and down her cheek.

"We may be nothing more than non-interacting friends. Some things never do change." "And you want to know another," Seth asked.

"What?"

"You're beauty."

Seth paused before quickly covering his moment of genuine honesty and cutting the intimate embrace short. As he saw her eyes follow the movement of his hand, and his own self get lost in it, he quickly brought his hand down.

This time Marissa cracked a light laugh and as happy of a grin as she could. But her tone quickly changed. She grew silent as the emotions stirred inside of her once again.

"You still look hot," he added.

"Not hot enough for you to hang around."

"I'm still getting used to all this friend business. I mean I'm cool with it and all, but…"

Marissa lifted her head and started to hang on his words waiting for the next to come. It was still hard for her to understand how he could be so cool with being friends yet would never come over to her house or call to hang out at his place even it was just to play some Jenga.

"But you're hot and it's hard for me to control myself. I get all these thoughts about you and Alex and …"

Marissa brought her head back down and gave a lukewarm half smile. She was hoping for grander words, perhaps something a bit more sincere. But they never came and she took defeat.

"So you ready to brave the elements, I mean the storm that is Julie and Luke Cooper," Seth asked.

Marissa sprung up as she was obviously alarmed by Seth's choice of words.

"Hmm, not my best phrasing, sorry."

Marissa sighed as she shrugged her shoulders.

"If it's cool with you I'd rather just chill with you in my room. Kind of like I used to," she said.

"Jenga? A dance off with Captain Oats? A special reading from…"

Marissa slowly trailed her head down to Seth's shoulder. He cautiously watched as she inched in closer. It silenced him from saying another word.

"Atomic County," Marissa asked as her head hit his shoulder and her eyes trailed up to his face.

She desperately wanted a glimpse into what Seth was really feeling, why he had become so distant with her. Atomic County was once her window into discovering the things and feelings Seth held close to him. The things he refused to reveal to others because of his personal fears.

"I was going for some Legion. I think I still have some copies stashed in your room somewhere. I haven't really done much with Atomic County. I mean how many water-polo nations can we over-take anyway?"

Marissa casually took her head off of Seth's shoulder and turned back to the view of her bedroom door.

"There's was never a nation to claim but our own. That was the real issue."

Seth warily moved himself further away from Marissa and shot her a wearied look.

"Well that's very astute of you Marissa."

She sighed again and took in the awkward pause that followed before finally speaking.

"I'm so glad to be away from them. I couldn't even stand the pity looks your parents were giving me."

Seth watched on as she finally spoke. It was clear she was shaken and uneasy. He still didn't know how to respond to Marissa. He wanted to care. He did care. But he wasn't prepared to give off any signs that he still wanted her as more than a friend, that just as she needed him now, he needed her everyday.

Marissa didn't want to take advantage of the situation. And she certainly didn't want Seth to take pity on her. But she could have used a mere hug, perhaps just a few words of encouragement. Seth didn't seem like he was about to give either.

"So we could play some PSP Road House. I'll let you be Patrick Swazye's character. Come on, he's just the right amount of gay. Plus, Summer forced me to see Havana Nights on DVD back when we were dating. So I reaffirm, just the right amount of gay. "

Marissa might of laughed had it been another day, but she was tired and warn down. All of her light emotions seemed forced. She knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate. She wouldn't even be able to use it as a distraction. But that was all pointless. The day she realized Seth wasn't coming around anymore, wasn't acting like her friend, she unplugged the gamming system and stored it in her sisters closet. It was there she also disposed of Seth's precious Legion comic books.

"Seth? Where you ever in love with me," Marissa said, her words coming out of nowhere.

Seth instantly tightened up. His whole body locked and he couldn't muster one word to come from his mouth. The truth had always feared him. Having to disclose it to Marissa paralyzed him.

"Never mind. It's a pointless question. It's just, I wonder if anyone really ever loved me. Ryan, you, my mom. Are they all playacting? Because I seriously feel like I'm trapped in a really bad episode of the Valley."

"Ok, I may have been a tad sheltered with my emotions, but your friendship really started to mean something to me."

She knew he wasn't lying. He never lied to her where it mattered most. He hid his feelings. He bottled his emotions. But that was all out of personal fear on his own part. It wasn't about protecting Marissa or hiding the truth's to protect what ever they had going on between them. It was about protecting himself pure and simple. It started to become clear to her that protecting his own self-interests was Seth's number one job.

Marissa moved her head up slightly but kept her eyes to the bottom. In her view was Seth's gawkily looking knees and then off the side, resting on the bed, was his hand. Just the site of it gave her comfort. It called out to her, just like it used to. But taking hold of it was no longer a matter of choice. She desperately needed his touch. Feeling his hand, his skin, was the only thing that could bring her back to herself. It confused her and it frightened her knowing that she so desperately still needed him. Slowly she crept her hand over to his. Timidly, but still with a bit of assurance, she placed it over his.

Seth felt the electric touch. He was alarmed. The finger-to-finger contact took him out of his daze. He was instantly brought back into reality and into Marissa's spell. His eyes cautiously traveled down to where her hand was meeting with his. He watched as she brought her hand in further until she finally halted leaving it to permanently rest over his. Slowly the physical feelings transformed him. Something inside him was shifting. He could feel it, even if it was hard to identify. Maybe it was just his nerves. Maybe it was something else.

She didn't even turn her head or try to catch a glance of Seth's face. Her eyes stared out to the now hazy walls of her room. Instantly after she locked her view on the four walls of her room she shuttered. This was a moment when Seth's hand moved into hers as though he was reaching out for a greater grip.

Seth never broke from his fixed positioning. He too was making a connection with walls and objects around them rather than the person sitting next to him.

Seconds in from when he unconsciously griped her hand they found themselves shifting their heads. Marissa curiously shifted her body, turning in to see what it was that had made him embrace the physical moment. It was a delayed reaction. The slow shift of her body was seen out of the corner of Seth's eye. His attentions were caught. Before he knew it his frame was fully turned in and facing Marissa's warn and slumped posture.

They anxiously tried to hold their silence and let the awkwardness pass. But the silence was so hard to hold. Their breathing turned to sighs. And the sighs turned to racing heartbeats. The pulses resonated through the touch of their hands.

A variable moment or two later and Seth could feel himself pulling towards her. Perhaps she could feel it too. There must have been some reason her upper body was gravitating towards him.

Seth's mind raced with concentrated thoughts but it never stopped him from his continued shift towards her face. He wanted to kiss her. Marissa could clearly sense the tension between them but it never stopped her from her continued shift towards his face. She wanted to kiss him.

Although each had their own reasons they were gravitating towards each other out of primal need. Regrettably, they never reached their moment of satiation.

"Sweetie! Marissa. We need to talk. Honey, I can explain all of this. Really. Luke wants to talk too. Come on Marissa, open the door," Julie inconveniently interrupted.

Both Marissa and Seth's attentions were halted. They were unavoidably forced out of their need for a more intimate embrace. They could of easily broken all physical contact as soon as they heard Julie's shriek. But they didn't. As Marissa turned back to face the door Seth kept a firm, but equally gentle, grip over her hand. He never relented. Whether she intentionally processed it at that moment he was her stronghold.

"Can you just… Mom, come in,", Marissa said in a jumbled and hesitant voice.

Seth still firmly gripped on to her hand with no intention of letting go.

Julie weaseled her way into Marissa's room and quickly came to a standstill when she saw Seth so close to her daughter's side.

"Sweetie, you think we could talk, alone," Julie said as she began to take notice of the position of their hands.

She wasn't in the right mind to question her daughter about what was going on here. There was no room in Julie's life right now for her to access her daughter's life and feelings unless they directly affected her. Seth and Marissa touching at the hand was pretty mild of a situation compared to the one Julie created by dating Luke, and she knew it.

"Sweetie, please. Seth…"

Marissa gave a look of pure shock as she heard her mother address Seth by his name.

"…could you just give us a moment. Your little chino buddy is down stairs."

Seth barely smirked. Maybe it was an excuse but he was starting to feel it was the moment he should relent his hand and head out the bedroom to give them a moment to talk. But Marissa's grip tightened and he was forced to stay in position.

"Mom, whatever you can say in front of me you can say in front of Seth."

"No it's cool, really. You two should talk. I should go. Ryan, my parents. They're all down stairs and alone with a hairy Luke. They need me."

'I need you' Marissa thought to herself. But she didn't want to add any pressure to the situation and released her grip from Seth's hand allowing him to go. Sadly she parted from the one thing that was keeping her from completely breaking down.

Julie flashed an evil grin as Seth walked up from the bed and towards the door. He was instantly shot down with her stares and returned it with a nervous and equally frightened look.

Seth was rather comforted by the fact that Marissa released her hand. It wasn't that he didn't want to stay, to be there by her side. But with each passing moment their hands continued to touch he found his body tensing even more and his impulsive nature taking control of his heart and mind. He needed a quick exit, a quick release. He couldn't allow himself to go any further. He couldn't kiss her. He couldn't reach for her face again. But if he stayed through and past her conversation with her mother there was no questioning that is what would have happened. Then, all the plans he fought so hard to put in motion would have been foiled. It would have been revealed in the instant that his will wasn't as strong as it used to be in the primitive days of turning things back to the beginning.

Seth and Marissa made a pack. They were going to remain friends. They were going to build up the great four and carry it through till college. They didn't imagine it would be this hard. And they never imaged it would leave these unbreakable walls between them. There wasn't a day gone by where he hadn't wrestled with it. It felt like there was no turning back. If Seth was going to keep his plans in motion and his heart from breaking, distance was the price he had to pay.

Marissa vigilantly watched as once again Seth was slowly, and without a good enough reason known to her, vanishing from site. Left to her own devises, she would have to brace her mother alone, maybe even the rest of the school year too.