Summary: The whole crew is present for the Harbor High Christmas Student Host Party for their parents.

Story Notes: This jumps in just a few days after the last act and a little ways into the party.

Title is from "Marching Bands Of Manhattan" by Death Cab for Cutie. This song is amazing and worthy of a listen and a lyrics look-up.

Feedback Notes: First of all Merry Christmas/Chrismukkah and Happy Holidays to all my readers. I really do hope your holidays are filled with joy and love.

-- ---- --- -----

"Whh, wha, what was that," Seth frantically asked as he felt his lips tingle from the aftermath.

"What we should have been doing all along."

"Right. I mean no. Ok?" "This is a mistletoe thing? I mean this was just you keeping with the Chrismukkah traditions right? Except, really mistletoe is so generic with equal parts conventionalism and commercialism. It's not the best shared experience for the gentile and the Jew," Seth continued on in his usual babble rhetoric.

Marissa peered her head up to the ceiling and noticed there was in fact mistletoe hanging over their heads. A blinding ray of bright lights temporarily obstructed her view and caused her to squint. As she readjusted her position she shrugged and sighed before re-meeting with Seth's eyes. She was solemn and disconnected, but tried her best to keep focus on Seth's twitching body.

"We should have been doing this all along. It would have been a hell of way to piss off my mom and deal with all this Luke drama," Marissa said as her eyes trailed off to see her mother with Luke.

Seth followed her glance and noticed what was grabbing her attention.

Off in the distance Julie was chatting it up with her new lover. They occupied a corner. And it was clear to any one there they were inescapable. But Julie wasn't one to avoid scandal these days. And perhaps she had become a little too proud about her renewed relationship with Luke. Maybe that was why she had the balls to bring Luke as her date to the party.

Seth stood frozen and nervous. He had no clue how to respond. He wasn't sure whether her comments justified a response. To kiss him just to piss off her mom and escape from life? To Seth that seemed rather Ryan like. In other words, it was something Marissa would have used Ryan for. He wasn't prepared to take on that role. And certainly he wasn't going to be manipulated into being used for her greater purposes.

Regardless of his staggered but firm emotions the truth remained. Even if it was for the wrong reasons, purely self-serving reasons, she did kiss him. He felt something quiver through his body. He couldn't deny the sparks. They were the same sparks that hit him months ago in Marissa's bedroom when they kissed for the first and only other time. It was the same sparks that built inside of him all the weeks before their first kiss.

Marissa was complacent and barely spoke. Seth tried to read her, but got no more from it than anyone else would. She was looking lonely and sad and of course ready to seek out a bottle. Knowing when she was ready to drown her sorrows in the bottle was the one thing about Marissa that was easy to read. If Seth hadn't been watching her almost vigilantly she would have, as the waiter passed, snatched a glass of something toxic. She was akin to sinking in her own self-pity. At least she was now, again.

-- ---- --- -----

"Oh My God, Ryan, did you totally just see that?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Coop kissed Cohen!"

"Oh right, yeah I saw. Wasn't there like mistletoe above their heads or something? You know how Seth is about Chrismukkah traditions," Ryan said as they continued to walk over the steps Marissa and Seth just made.

Seth and Marissa were trailing off into the distance. They were moving into a corner all their own and away from the hustling crowds of annoyed teenagers and their eager parents.

"Ryan, they totally kissed and that's huge. Not like truth or dare, but… ewww."

Ryan laughed, but was uncertain why she was so affected by what he took to be a simple gesture. They were so far behind Seth and Marissa that they couldn't hear dialog. They could barely process anything except that there lips made contact underneath the mistletoe that had hanged above them.

"They can kiss, as friends, under a mistletoe? I mean it is Chrismukkah."

"Sure, it's just with everything…"

Ryan coked his eyebrows. He was confused, as was the usual state of being when he was with Summer.

"Ok? Explain."

Summer stopped herself short so she wouldn't spill about what little she knew of the drama of the end of last summer between Seth and Marissa.

"I mean with how we all became such good friends and, and you know how we've been turning a new leaf this year."

"Anyway, it's mistletoe. It's Chrismukkah. Why are we even talking about this?"

"Well what else are we going to do at this trashy little Taylor Townsend Christmas party? Totally bust up on Luke for even being here with Marissa's mom?"

"Probably not a good idea. Anyway Marissa's still on the Social Chair."

"Yeah but that bit… Witch totally took control and stole all of Coop's idea, well except the whole parent thing." "So what else to do? Do our own kissing under the mistletoe?"

Ryan casually but with a bit of awkward tension turned to face Summer. Her eyes instantly met with his. She too felt a twinge of awkward tension. She didn't need to take another second to process what she had suggested.

"Eww, me and Chino. No! I mean, I'm not looking to be kissed. Don't feel…"

Ryan laughed slightly before turning into Summer. His eyes wandered upward as his head came down to catch a glance of the mistletoe that was now above them. Summer caught his peering eyes and too saw the mistletoe. Ryan, politely and casually kissed Summer on the cheek. Before she knew it the light and friendly moment was done. The tensions quickly lifted and Ryan returned to his fixed positioning and casual brooding.

-- ---- --- -----

"Where are you going?"

"Away from here, from you," Seth angrily said.

"But why," Marissa cried out. "God! Just tell me why. Then maybe I can finally understand all of this shit," Marissa said as tears came streaming from her eyes.

Normally Seth would start to feel paralyzed from her hurt facial expressions, but not this time. At this moment he just wanted to escape everything that Marissa was attached too. Sure he had become so distant and cold. But he never wanted to be used. He had his fair share of those games with Summer.

"I won't do this. I can't do this Marissa. It's… It's, I'm not Ryan."

"Ryan… What does he, what does that mean?"

"You can't just use me, use all the feelings I still have for you."

Suddenly her tears started to relent. Now she was feeling that paralyzing feeling Seth had come to know so well. She was surprised and shocked. How could it be that he had feelings for her when all he ever did these past few weeks was passively ignore her?

"You still have feelings for me?"

"Who cares? The fuck…, the fantastic four must reign on right?"

Seth eyes wandered and saw Ryan talking to Summer out of the corner of his eye. For a few seconds his eyes stayed fixed on Ryan, but he soon turned back and faced Marissa.

"Look at them. All smiles and laughing, and being friends. That's how this whole plan was suppose to be," Seth frantically shouted out.

"You don't always get what you want."

Seth paused before the unplanned witty pop reference registered in his mind. He was a little slow to the take tonight.

"Thanks Mick," Seth said intentionally trying to be sarcastic.

"God it was mistl…, it was just a kiss. I needed to see if you still nee… I just needed… "

"Needed me?"

"Yes Seth! Yes! Is that so wrong?"

"Would you need me if Luke wasn't shacking with your mom?"

Marissa continued to get chocked up in her tears. They seemed relentless. She never said a word. But deep down she knew the answer. Maybe Seth did too.

Seth's body locked and his eyes started to glaze over with a light watering. Marissa stood still, continuing with her verbal silence. Seth's pacing and Marissa's crying could have been resounding had there not been obnoxious Christmas music drowning out all secondary noises. Taylor's taste resonated with negative impact.

They were at a stand still. Voiceless and feeling alone, they could only be internally moved by the forceful meeting of the eyes they were giving each other. Each passing second Seth stood in front of Marissa, watching her tears and the sad beauty of her existence, he became more restless.

Without a secondary reaction or a voice of reasoning Seth jilted out of his frozen state and quickly walked up to Marissa. He wasn't sure why he was reacting this way. He didn't know how to pull himself away from making the next move. Before either of them knew it Seth was delicately cupping the side of Marissa's face. Not even a second of intense glare passed before he impulsively planted his lips on hers. Slowly, and with great uncertainty in his mind, he felt his lips take on a comfortable ease. Suddenly his heart outweighed the will power and reactionary thinking his mind offered.

For what seemed like an absolute moment, his soft lips pressed against her's offering something he could not define. Was it comforting either of them? Was it only complicating matters more? He didn't know. He had no energy to question.

With time fading he quickly broke away, canceling the physical seal that kept them temporally connected. He only looked in her eyes for a mere second before re-fixing himself. He created a distance between her.

Suddenly he felt anxious and claustrophobic despite the sheer abnormity of the event hall. He needed to make a clean exit. Maybe it wasn't so clean, but he did exit the room and yes, even the building. Just after a few seconds of being silenced, and utterly shocked by what he had done, he gave Marissa one last look before bolting out of the room. He booked it to the nearest door that would lead him to fresh air and his oddly imperishable Range Rover. He was starting to envision the ultimate escape.

Marissa didn't even turn to watch him leave. She had no strength to look him in the eyes as he walked away. She just stood there cold and alone, still choking on her tears. With all the patterns constantly repeating between them, she never imagined that he would actually break down and kiss her. Still, she held little hope that this would later amount to what she so desperately wanted.

-- ---- --- -----

"You gonna tell me that was a Chrismukkah tradition," Summer said, with her eyes wide-eyed and her lower lip left hanging.

Ryan was utterly speechless. He couldn't even begin to casually respond to Summer, like he did earlier. Neither of them could hear the words they exchanged or clearly make out the tensions and tears in their eyes and on their faces. But they saw that they had kissed for a second time this evening. And this time it wasn't under the elusive mistletoe.

Quickly Summer raced to meet up with Marissa who she could now see was visibly shaken although the tears were starting to dry before Summer could have a clear indication she had been crying.

"Hey, Coop."

"Hey, Sum," Marissa said as she attempted to lift her head up and hold it high.

"You're cool right?"

"I think so. I mean as cool as I can be with my mom back together with Luke."

"Yeah that totally sucks, I know. But you sure nothing else is up? Nothing you want to talk about," Summer asked, her lips slightly pouting and her face solemnly looking at Marissa.

"I'm grounded as can be. You want to get the hell out here? It's a little stifled to say the least."

"Yeah, for sure. I'll grab Ryan in a bit and let my dad know we're leaving,"

Marissa nodded. She was doing her best to look unaffected.

"So ah I kinda caught that mistletoe action," Summer said trying to get some information.

Marissa kept a certain distance between herself and Summer's revelation.

"Oh, you saw that."

"Yeah, it was sweet I think. Although our view was a little blurred and muddled."

"Ryan saw too?"

"Yeah, is that a big deal? It's Christmas Coop. There's mistletoe and weird things happening. Luke and you're mom are getting really close. The Cohen's are finally working through their marital issues. Ryan's like a dad and still getting through senior year. And I don't have a man! We have to work on that you know. I totally can't be dateless for the prom."

"It's five months away."

"Exactly. I've gotta spec my date options early to get the prime beef."

Marissa's head was sulked and her face was frowned with sadness. Summer could clearly see she wasn't coming out of her funk despite best efforts made to try and cover up her sadness.

"Ok, Coop what do you say we get some pancakes with Ryan. Just the three of us since Cohen disappeared. You two are cool right?"

"I'm actually in the mood for waffles," Marissa interjected.

"Whatever gets your moods up Coop. It's Chrismukkah, we should at least be happy and everything. Now let me just grab that Chino friend of ours," Summer said as she saw, a few feet away, Ryan talking with Sandy.

Just as Summer slipped away to get Ryan an un-charmed waiter came in front of Marissa. Without a second thought she swiped the free liquids from off his tray. Down the hatch she sent the numbing alcohol. Before Summer turned back with Ryan in toe she placed the empty glass back on the waiters tray.