Part II: Those In Love and Heartbroken

TWO WEEKS BEFORE VALENTINES

Marissa went straight to Alex's office and peeked. She saw the blonde working: tapping a few digits on her calculator while writing a report on the other hand. It had been a week since they came to LA to see Alex. But the blonde didn't really utter a word to Marissa. They have been around hanging with Jodie on the club, a little hi here and there, but there were no talks. They barely even looked at each other, let's say more than ten seconds. Alex was visibly avoiding Marissa. Who could blame her? Marissa thought to herself.

She leaned against the door, careful not to be seen. She discretely watched her ex-girlfriend do her job. She always loved watching the blonde work. She was so… Into it. As Marissa put it in words. It was like how much she felt Alex's warmth back in Newport. No boundaries, no lies. Just Alex. Pure Alex. And Marissa knew she threw it all away. Then again who could blame her? You were caught in the in betweens and probably the two things that kept you going in the first place: The present and the past. All the changes were rushing towards Marissa like a whole hockey team scrambling to whack the opponents goalie. Marissa was caught blind-sided not knowing where to start or where to stop. And Alex's job got in the way. Again, how can you blame Alex? She was working for both of them at the time. Not just herself.

Marissa sighed taking a last glimpse of Alex: The blonde was tapping her head with the pen she was holding. She turned around to find herself face to face with Jodie.

"You should talk to her." The smaller girl suggested, her head turning to face Alex.

"No. She's busy. Maybe some other time."

"Ok…" Jodie gave her a weak smile.

"Ok." Marissa walked away, obviously disappointed with herself.

Jodie entered Alex's office, but the blonde didn't really notice it. She was still engrossed with her paper work.

"Alex. You should take a break."

"I'll be done in a moment."

"Excuse me. I'm looking for Alex Kelly?" A voice inquired making the two girls turn.

"HEY! She's Alex. Alex, this is the guitarist for your MWF shows. Do you remember?" Jodie smiled as she pointed out the piece of information to the blonde.

"Yeah. I watched a few numbers. Alex Kelly. Nice to meet you. Finally." Alex let out a laugh shaking the boy's hand.

"I'm Eli Sammler. Nice to meet you too." Eli smiled back just then Jessie and Katie peeked at the door.

"Oh and those are my cohorts. They're just here to help me out. On vacation till the end of the month." Eli smiled turning to motion Jessie and Katie to come in.

Alex looked like a deer caught in headlights as she saw Katie enter her office. Obviously surprised on how the young girl would look exactly like her ex. Marissa. What are the odds of that?

Jodie didn't look shocked though. She had the privilege to meet Katie the other night on the club. She, of course, have mistaken her for Marissa, but Jessie was there to explain who her companion was.

"That's Jessie, Eli's sister." Jodie introduced pointing to Jessie who gave Alex a wave.

Alex could only nod.

"And that's Katie. Jessie's best friend. Looks like someone we know huh?" Jodie smirked.

Alex could only shake her head then smile. She shook Katie and Jessie's hand trying to regain her composure.

"Alex Kelly." Alex finally found her voice.

She smiled at the two girls who couldn't let go of each others hand. It looked sweet to Alex.

"Well, I hope to see more of those numbers from you Eli. But not today. Some offices nearby asked for a karaoke night, so we have one tonight. You could stay if you like. It's on the house." Alex took her seat now sporting a goofy grin on her face.

"Jess… Sing later." Katie beamed but Jessie gave her an elbow on the stomach.

"Don't be shy." Eli grinned making Jessie tug his arm.

"If you do… I'll give you two a free dinner on any restaurant you like." Alex suggested, making Katie and Jessie's eyes bug out.

Alex didn't really want to offer anything to them aside from the club perks. But the look Katie gave Jessie told her to do otherwise. It was the look the she had seen once in her very short lived romance with Marissa. But she wouldn't want to put labels in it. It was over. And Alex was going to move on, somehow. She just wanted Katie and Jessie to have a good time. If her hunch was true, only God knows how long these two will stay together.

"Just the two of them?" Eli queried, obviously shocked.

"You'll be working. Don't worry. They'll be safe." Alex smiled.

"Well… Ok. Come on girls. Let's go outside." Eli abruptly erased the confusion in his face as he plastered a huge smile on his face.

"Thanks Alex!" Jessie and Katie said in unison, their fingers still entwined.

Alex gave them a wave and turned to Jodie as the door closed.

"You're so predictable you know that?" Jodie smirked giving her a slight push on the shoulder.

Alex just grinned in reply and started to clear her table. Time to have some fun.

----

Marissa sat beside Summer on the booth quietly. She hasn't said a word since she sat, which worried the other girl. She tried to convince herself for the past seven days that she could deal with Alex's resentments on her: That she could have a talk with the blonde, to clear out whatever that was still between them. She wanted to tell Alex what she felt, what she still feels. Her thoughts were halted with Alex walking out of the office and walking straight to the stage. The blonde was all smiles, making Marissa smile. At least she's happy: Even if it's without me. Marissa thought. Sitting straight up to watch the show.

"Karaoke night. Now you know I love you too much." Alex pointed to her audience who laughed and cheered at her comment.

They were the people from the offices around the club. They have literally petitioned signatures to get Alex to host the karaoke night. Once Alex knew there were enough people who would actually attend. She set the date, and tonight was the night.

"Now before you hooligans take the stage, I would like you to give a round of applause to two new friends of mine." Alex smiled motioning Katie and Jessie to take the stage.

"But I don't sing." Katie whispered to Jessie on their way to the stage.

"You can." Jessie smiled at her reassuringly, holding her hand tighter.

Summer stared hard at the brunette walking up the stage.

"OH… MY… GOD!" Summer violently shook Marissa while taller girl was drinking water.

"What?"

"COOP! LOOK! STAGE!" Summer pointed nervously at the stage wherein Marissa turned to.

Marissa's jaw dropped as Katie shyly gave a wave to the crowd.

"What are the odds Sum? That someone looks like me?"

"Maybe it's a sign?"

"What?"

"Just a thought." Summer replied embarrassed by her own comments.

"Now these girls are on vacation, and they're new here in LA. Let's show them how to have a good time ok. But right now, how about you sing a song for us?" Alex smiled giving Jessie and Katie a microphone.

Jodie walked up the stage to help the two young girls pick a song.

Katie and Jessie sang while holding each other's hand. Eli watched them, but only a smile crept out of his lips.

Just an ordinary day,
Started out the same old way.
Then I looked into your eyes and knew
Today would be,
A first for me
The day I fall in love

On the day I fall in love,
The sky will be a perfect blue.
And I'll give my heart forever more
To someone who,
Is just like you.
The day I fall in love

People all say,
Love is wondeful.
That the bells will ring,
Birds will sing
And skies will open.
I wonder where's that great big symphony.
Roll over Beethoven,
Won't you play with me?

Marissa stood up as she listened to the two girls on stage sing. Her "twin" slightly off tune. She turned to Alex who was smiling widely as she watched them. Marissa wished she was a reason for Alex's smile. It's ironic since the two girls were singing about the first time they fell in love. Marissa knew when she did. She was just too caught up with everything else that she didn't realize early enough not to let it go.

And I'll never to be true
To anyone
Unless its you
Unless its you
The day I fall in love.

People all say love is wonderful
That bells will ring,
Birds will sing,
And skies will open.
I wonder where's that great big symphony
I'll be your Beethoven
Roll over, Beethoven
Come and play with me

Alex bowed her head as thoughts of the past flooded her mind. She thought of how cruel life is to find two people like Jessie and Katie looking at each other with so much love in their eyes. But here she was, standing with her heart breaking in pieces, with a fake smile on her face, while Marissa stood a few meters away from her. She could hold her. Yes. But it would mean giving in to the same feelings the made her leave Newport in the first place. I fell in love for this girl once. I fell hard for her. But she broke my heart. Alex sighed looking up to the stage again. The two girls almost in their finale.

Just an ordinary day,
Started out the same old way.
Then I looked into your eyes and knew
Today would be
A first for me
A first for me
The day I fall in love.

Just an ordinary day,
Started out the same old way.
Then I looked into your eyes and knew
Today would be
A first for me
A first for me
The day I fall in love.

The club was filled with applause and cheers. Two pairs of hearts utterly in love, but only a pair, happy in love.

----

"That was cool." Katie mumbled as she slipped inside the backseat with Jessie.

Eli sat on the other side of the taxi cab, seemingly happy for the night out.

"We should do it some other time." Eli proposed smiling at the two young girls beside him.

"Sure." Jessie replied looking at Katie.

"Sure…" Katie shrugged her shoulder.

"But can we skip with the part that I sing? That was really embarrassing." Katie quickly added scratching her head shyly.

"Aw… Singer… Didn't know you had the word SHY in your vocabulary." Eli grinned earning a swat from Jessie.

Eli turned to talk to the driver.

Sensing his attention was on the road, Jessie took Katie's hand again and smiled at her sweetly. The two girls stared at their entwined fingers, then Jessie felt the urge to do something. She looked at Eli, who was busy checking were they were. She took Katie's hand and placed between them, hiding it from Eli's sight. Jessie wrote the letters on Katie's palm which spelled out I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U. Katie smiled at her and entwined their fingers again. She let Jessie rest her head on her shoulder, seemingly both content while on the ride back to the apartment.

----

Alex sat on the stage after closing time. The rest of employees have gone home. Jodie was waiting for her outside. But she wanted to stay for a while. Telling the Latina to go home. Her jeep was there too, so there was really no problem.

"Hey…" Marissa greeted taking a seat beside her.

If they were going to talk, Marissa had to initiate it. Although Alex left without saying goodbye, Marissa knew it was her fault. She can't expect Alex to have the urge to tell her goodbye since she didn't even fight for her. She didn't even tell her she loves her. She didn't even let the blonde know that she was.

Alex turned and just smiled at her. Utterly content that she wasn't going to say a word to Marissa.

There was silence. A silence that Marissa could barely take. She thought of subjects they could talk about. Some things Alex could actually talk about. But she couldn't find the topics or the words.

"Why did you leave without saying goodbye?" She suddenly blurted out.

It surprised Alex, much more herself when those words came out of her mouth.

"You know the answer to that." Alex replied containing herself.

She didn't want old feelings of anger and regret come over her. It was not the place. Nor the person to share it with.

"I missed you." Marissa blurted out again, but she was less surprised with herself this time.

She really missed Alex. Through the back of her mind, she knows she did. And she still does. She wanted Alex to hold her. Keep her safe, like she used to. Alex seemed to respond to her confession coldly.

"What do you want from me?" Alex lashed out angrily.

She stood up facing the brunette with anger in her eyes.

"You tell me you miss me after you left me?"

"I didn't leave you. You left me!"

"So going back to Ryan meant you didn't leave me?"

"Alex… You left me that's why I went back to him!" Marissa stood up, facing Alex with the same intense look in her eyes.

"What do you want me to do? Hang around before you break my heart again?" Alex snapped her head to the side, keeping herself from slapping Marissa.

Marissa was quiet. Break my heart again? Oh please no. She thought. Her eyes softened but Alex's didn't even notch down.

"It was like I was on a lost cause to lose my heart Marissa Cooper. And I'm not falling for that again. Now if you please, be kind enough to get out so I can close the club."

"Alex…"

"Now…" Alex closed her eyes, counting on the back of her head to keep her temper from rising even more.

"Please Alex…" Marissa tried to hold her hand but Alex swatted it away.

"Don't touch me. Leave." Alex said sternly turning away from Marissa to avoid eye contact.

Marissa looked at Alex for the last time that night, but she vowed to make better conversations with the blonde soon. No one can blame them from hurting. She can't blame Alex from being angry. But she will make amends. She will.