AN: Thanks for the nice reviews guys! It's really great...

And I'm sorry that I didn't update before, but my freaking Computer deleted everything...:-((

Well, however..here it is. Hope you like it and please R&R...

Chapter 3: The Kiss

Seth laid on Summer's bed, surrounded by the dim glow of the setting sun coming through the windows, and Summer's body half atop of his. He didn't know for how long they laid there like that…she had told him about her mom and her sudden departure and about the upcoming divorce, which apparently brought all the bad memories back out to the front…and he had listened, savoring every second/detail of her opening up to him. And now they were here and he listened to her steady breathing, felt her heartbeat against his own and drew small circles on her back, trying to just be there for her and maybe even find a way to make the pain go away eventually.

As the sun had completely set down, she raised her head from his chest, looking up to him, smiling, and with so many emotions mirroring in her eyes, which just looked like dark liquid holes in the dark, that he thought he fell even more in love with her right this moment.

She crawled further up until she placed a lingering kiss on his lips…

"I'm glad I told you.", she whispered against them, looking him in the eyes like nobody ever had before and like he was sure nobody ever would again.

"Me too."

Smiling back at her, he leaned in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around her as she almost immediately deepened it.

"I love you!", she stated quietly once they broke the kiss, getting lost in his eyes.

"I love you, too, Sum!", he replied just as sincerely and out of the blue she started to giggle and brought her still smiling lips back to his.

And just like that the passionate, funny, smart Summer with the witty comebacks was back.

"Let's do something.", she suggested happily, wrenching her mouth from his, smiling seductively at him.

"What do you wanna do?", Seth asked completely clueless until she kissed him again, passionately, rolling them over so that he was atop of her.

"Hmm, I like that plan…"

Summer moaned into the kiss as Seth's hand ran gently and slow from her neck, down her just bra covered chest to her bare stomach, caressing her soft skin.

They were making out for a while now and at least since both of their shirts had found their way to the floor, all thoughts about moms and abandonment were completely forgotten…

Another moan escaped her mouth and just right that second Seth's cell phone started to ring in his back pocket, the unnerving sound of Rock 'n' Roll Queen´ filling the room…

"Ignore it!", she sighed against his lips as she ran her hand up his bare back into his unruly hair, playing with the soft curls.

"Fuck!", Seth called out annoyed as his cell rang for the third time in a row.

"Apparently not!", Summer said frustrated as she let her arms fall back onto the bed, pouting.

Whoever this was would so get it´, he thought as he tried to get the phone out of his jeans to answer it.

"WHAT!...Ryan man, right now-….Oh….But-….I-….yeah! Hold on!"

Seth held the phone to his chest so that Ryan couldn't hear him.

"They want to meet at the Diner!", he mumbled against Summer's neck, before he lightly nibbled at the soft skin.

"Yeah, let's go."

Seth looked at her unbelievingly.

"…But not before another hour.", she smiled, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"Hour!", he mumbled into the phone before he threw it onto the floor and bent his head down to kiss her again.

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Seth and Summer arrived at the Crab Shack exactly 1 hour and 30 minutes after Ryan's call and let themselves fall into the booth, which was currently occupied by their friends, who were already halfway through their food.

"Took you some time.", Marissa stated knowingly as she sipped at her milkshake, grinning at her best friends

Summer and Seth smiled at each other. Well, actually they had been at the Diner for at least 20 minutes already, in the parking lot to be more specific. But somehow they must have lost track of time…

"Oh, you know…we were stuck in-…", Seth said chuckling.

"…making out."

"…traffic." , they both said in union, causing the other two to laugh.

"Yeah, what she said.", Seth admitted, wiping the last rest of Summer's strawberry lip gloss from his lips before he intertwined his fingers with hers underneath the table.

"Exactly…you totally ruined our afterglow!", Summer stated smiling, as if it was the most normal thing to say in front of your friends.

"I really don't need to know that!", Ryan spoke up for the first time, with a pained expression on his face.

"Hey…what are you doing?", Marissa cried out grinning as Summer stole some chili fries from her plate.

"I'm starving!"

Everyone laughed at her statement and Seth pulled her even closer to him, placing a tender kiss on her temple.

"OMG…I'm stuffed!", Seth stated as he pushed his just emptied plate away from him and leaned back, rubbing his tummy.

"Yeah, me too.", Summer sighed copying his gesture. "And I have to pee! Coop, coming with me?"

"Sure."

"I don't get it…Why do girls always have to go peeing together?", Seth asked curiously, looking at Ryan in expectation, but he just shrugged.

"Because we spend the time talking trash about our lame ass boyfriends.", Summer replied grinning, patting his unruly mob of curls before the girls headed off to the restrooms.

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"Hey, Sum…I kinda wanted to talk to you..", Marissa said as she stepped next to Summer, washing her hands.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I just wanted to know if anything's alright? You seemed upset yesterday and when Ryan and I stopped by earlier-…I dunno."

Summer glanced quickly at her best friend before she looked back into the large mirror, checking her appearance.

"Oh, you know…the usual stuff with the stepmonster…But it's fine."

"You sure?", Marissa asked with slight concern in her voice.

"Yeah...of course. I mean, I would tell you if it was otherwise, right!", she replied, slapping herself mentally for lying to her.

"Well, okay…Just wanted to make sure."

The girls smiled at each other before they both went back to fixing their hair.

"Hey, I thought maybe we could do something later…watch a movie or so.", Summer suggested.

"I can't…I'm sorry!"

"Why? You and Ryan already have plans, hu?", she asked mischievously, nudging her in the ribs.

"No, actually…I'm gonna head over to Johnny's…giving him his present, you know.", she answered, fixing her ponytail, not recognizing Summer's dumbfounded expression.

"You got him something?"

"Yeah! You won't guess what…It's awesome! A PS2 and a surf game.", Marissa said happily, looking at her best friend full of excitement.

"You- you what?", Summer asked unbelievingly.

Did she just heard right? A PS2 plus game? The girl, who always complained about her lack of money lately, the one who currently lived in a trailer, who got her boyfriend a pair of too small wife beaters and a shirt Ryan wouldn't wear if he was threaten with death for Christmas, got a complete random guy a playstation!

"Isn't that cool?", Marissa more stated than asked as she opened the door.

"Yeah, very cool, Coop.", Summer answered, following her back to their booth.

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Summer cuddled into Seth's side as she sat back down next to him, giving him a meaningful look and nodded into the direction of their friends.

"Hey, you know what time it is?", Marissa asked as she sat back down.

"7:00 PM. Why?"

"Shit! Already?"

"Yeah…What's wrong?", Ryan asked, laying an arm around her shoulders.

"I promised Johnny to stop by.", she explained.

Ryan looked at her confused and Seth raised his eyebrows as he shared a quick glance with Summer.

"What? Why? I thought, we would do something together."

"Yeah, sorry…But I promised him, you know. And I have to give him his present anyways."

"You got him something?", Ryan asked as if he had just witnessed the landing of an UFO.

Summer looked up from her lap as Seth nudged her in the ribs, looking at her questioningly, but she just shrugged.

"Yeah, sure!...You can come if you want and we can give it to him together…Johnny's so gonna flip when he sees the playstation."

Both boys' eyes almost bulged out while Summer just shook her head.

"You got him a playstation?", Ryan asked shocked.

"Yeah…Isn't that cool?", Marissa said happily, not getting the absurdity of the situation in the least.

"I don't believe this!", Ryan stated more to himself, shaking his head.

"So, you gonna come with or shall I give you a ride?", she asked, already grabbing her purse.

Ryan just stared at her before he let out a small laugh.

"No, thanks! I'm gonna take the bus!", he said angrily, throwing some dollars onto the table.

"Say Johnny Merry Christmas´ from me.", he spitted at her and stormed out of the Diner.

"What the hell was that?", Marissa asked confused, looking at her friends, who still just looked shocked by what had just happened.

"I dunno.", Summer lied. "Why don't you just go after him and ask him himself?"

"No…If he wants to be an ass, please…See ya." And with that she left too, leaving Seth and Summer totally dumbfounded behind.

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"Marissa?", Johnny asked a little bewildered by her sudden visit as he opened the door.

"Hey, Johnny…Merry Christmas.", she greeted him, placing the lightest kiss on his cheek.

"Merry Christmas!", he said, his voice merely above a whisper as his palms started to sweat.

"I didn't know you were coming.", he stated nervously as he let her into the house and she followed him into the kitchen. "You want something?"

"Yeah, thanks."

She watched him pouring some coke in two glasses, handing one over to her.

"Thanks…Actually I came here to wish you a Merry Christmas, what I already did, and to give you…this.", she said smiling, handing him the in dark green paper wrapped present.

"Wow…I-…wow…I don't know what to say. Thank you!", he stammered as he took it from her, looking deep into her sparkling blue eyes.

"You're welcome.", she stated happily, looking at him just as intensely.

"I didn't-…I don't…If-….", he chocked out chuckling. "I didn't know you would do this! I-…"

"Oh.", Marissa stated a little sad as realization hit her. "Hey, that's not a problem. I really wanted to do this, though."

They smiled at each other again, getting lost in the other's eyes.

"So, what is it?", he asked, smirking at her.

"Open it and you'll see."

Marissa followed Johnny into the living room and sat down beside him on the couch, eyeing the small room, which yet was bigger than her own new living room and looked a lot nicer. The windows were covered with Christmas ornaments and the small tree, which they had bought for them, was lighten up and decorated with red and golden Christmas baubles.

"Wow.", was Johnny's only comment as he revealed the carton of the PS2, switching his eyes back and forth between Marissa and his lap.

"You like it?", she asked hopefully, smiling shyly at him with big eyes.

"I-…It's awesome!...But I can't take it!", he replied, shaking his head and handing it back to her.

"Yes, you can. I won't take a no´ as an answer."

The smile on her face was contagious and Johnny couldn't but lean in to give her a quick peck on the cheek, whispering a husky Thank you´.

"Shall I help you to inst-…"

And just like that Johnny's lips were on hers, soft and warm and exploring.

Drawing away a little she looked into his eyes, before her gaze wandered down to his lips and she leaned in to kiss him again.

Johnny didn't spend one second before he responded eagerly, both falling back onto the couch.

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Sophie Cohen listened to the beeping of the phone as she waited for Ephraim to pick up.

"Cohen residence.", he finally said, answering the phone.

"Hey, it's me."

"Sophie…how are you?"

"I'm great. And you? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah…did you tell him yet?"

"Ephraim, I already told you that it's not so easy. He already flipped as I told him about our relationship in general.", she explained, biting at her nails nervously.

"So you don't want to tell him at all?", his voice was full of hurt and also annoyance and she closed her eyes, trying to sort her thoughts.

"No, I do want to tell him! But maybe it just won't be such a good idea to do it right now."

"So when? When do you want to tell him then?"

"I don't know…maybe next year.", she suggested hopefully.

"Oh, next year…when next year? On new years or next Hannukah?"

"Please, Ephraim. You have to understand that-…"

"No! He needs to know. And I want him to know. I thought we talked about this. It was the main reason you even went there in the first place…So either you gonna tell him or I'll have to do it myself." His voice was harsh, but Sophie knew that he was just hurt and desperate…

"I'm going to do it, okay!"

"Okay.", he replied relieved "I love you."

"Yeah, me too. Bye."

"Bye!"

Sophie pushed the button to end the connection and rested her head in her hands.

How could she do this?...

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Kirsten had a blanket draped around her as she sat outside on the patio on one of the huge couches and looked over the whole lightened up bay area and the dark ocean, holding the Christmas ornament she had made with her mom all those years ago.

The air was a little chilly, especially for Southern California even if it was the end of December and she shivered a little, pulling the blanket tighter around her.

"Hey.", Sandy's soft voice said as he sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "Everything okay?"

"She didn't answer though; she just looked down at the tiny angel in her hands, stroking it's wooden wings.

"I just miss them so much."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a while, both looking over the dark Pacific Ocean, trying to make out the line on the horizon, where sky and ocean met.

"She told you, right!", Kirsten's quiet voice suddenly filled the content silence around them.

"Hmm?"

"The Nana, she told you, right?"

She watched how his huge dark eyebrows knitted together.

"Yeah. She has an…affair. But she thinks it's something serious…they live together in New York…She says she is happy." The disapproval was evident in his voice.

"Maybe she is."

Sandy's head shot into her direction and he looked at her as if she had gone crazy.

"Your mom isn't that kind of a person, who just sits around, Sandy. She's a strong and intelligent woman; she needs people around her, she needs the adventure, her freedom…"

"I know that. It's just…I don't want her to get hurt."

"She's a big girl, Sandy.", Kirsten replied, smirking at his concern and overprotection.

"When my dad left…she took it really hard. She did everything for us and tried her best to handle the whole situation as best as she could alone with 5 kids. And the first men she let close after all this time was this Bobby guy and you know how well this worked out…and now that man-…"

"Maybe she's just afraid to be alone."

"She isn't alone. She has a huge family."

She gave him a meaningful look "You know what I mean."

"Yeah.", he sighed and put his arms closer around Kirsten.

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Seth entered the pool house without knocking just right after he had evaded a further conversation with his parents, who sat cuddled together on the patio couches.

"Hey.", he greeted Ryan, who sat at the feet of his bed and pushed roughly onto the buttons on his PS2-controller, killing the ninjas in record time.

"Hello? Earth to Ryan…", he said as he sat down in the armchair in the corner of the room, waiting for any sign of acknowledging his presence by his brother.

It took 10 minutes and many desperate tries to start a conversation until a huge Game Over´ appeared on the screen and Ryan threw the controller across the room, finally looking at Seth.

Seth waited patiently – well no, not patiently but at least silent – for Ryan to say something…

"I can't believe her!", he hissed suddenly, getting up from his place on the floor and started to walk up and down the small area from his kitchen corner to the other side, where Seth sat.

Seth waited another few minutes, watching Ryan pacing back and forth, until he gave up…

"Come on man…Talk to me!"

"It's just-…Argh!", Ryan sighed, starting to pick up speed.

"Yeah, that was a pretty good start. Next step, full sentences."

Ryan shot him a meaningful glare before he let himself fall backwards onto his bed.

"She just can't get enough of this guy somehow. Whatever I say or do, it's always Johnny Johnny Johnny…I really tried to be friends with him, but-…It's just like it was with Oliver."

"Come on, Johnny is not crazy."

Remembering the incident at the Bar Mitz-Vah Ryan wasn't so sure about that, so he just shrugged.

"Oh…Well, at least he's not obsessed with Marissa.", Seth tried.

"It's not him! It's her! There's always someone else.", Ryan said in frustration, bringing his hands up to his face.

"You know she loves you…She freaking shot Trey to save your life."

Ryan shot him another meaningful look at this statement before he looked away, his eyes getting softer..

"I don't know if that means that she loves me, though!", he said in a silent and slight hurt voice, earning himself just a confused look this time.

"She would have done it for you, too, Seth. Or for Summer or for any stranger in that situation. It does mean that she cares, cares for me or for any other human being in that situation. That was just a normal reaction…It doesn't mean that she loves me."

Seth didn't know what he was supposed to answer to that. Ryan was right though and he knew it. And although he was pretty much convinced that Marissa loved him, he didn't know what he would do in a situation like this, when his girlfriend would always hang around with other guys, who have a crush on her.

"And you know what is the worst thing?", Ryan's silent voice brought him out of his thoughts. "When Trey was in coma I though a lot about my and Marissa's relationship and I knew that when Trey wouldn't make it, I couldn't be with her any longer."

Seth looked at his brother understanding and shocked at the same time.

"I even prepared myself for that situation, because I was sure that he would die. And when he didn't I just went with it…I don't-…"

"What are you saying? That YOU don't love HER anymore?"

Seth looked at his brother intensely and he held his gaze until he let himself fall back onto the bad again…

"I don't know…I don't know anymore!

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Summer sat in the sand, knees up to her chest and Seth's sweater wrapped tightly around her. The small stretch of beach right under her house was deserted and the dark silence and the cold wind sent shivers up and down her spine.

The huge waves crushed against the shore, looking even more frightening in the dark with just the simple glow of the moon than by day.

Summer's gaze wandered to the beach houses, which she could make out in the distance, knowing one of them was the one which had belonged to Holly's parents before they had moved away and a quick flashback of all the parties and fateful events that had taken place right there came rushing back into her mind. And somehow all this memories weren't so appealing anymore.

Another breath of cold salty air swirled around her and she looked at her cold numb fingers that were playing with the tiny heart on her necklace.

She remembered the first time she had sat right at this place five years ago. She had cried so badly and it had taken her dad almost two hours to finally found her. And since then whenever something bad happened in her life like a bad fight with her dad or Marissa she came down here and sat in the sand, just letting the dark and silence comforting her soul.

She remembered the summer when Seth left, she had spent almost every night out her, just looking out onto the ocean crying. Or the first few Christmases when she had sat here and somehow wished her mom would just come back…

Summer slapped her butt sandfree as she got up and made her way up the little path to her house.

She opened the front door quietly and she blinked to make out something in the dark hallway. The large Christmas tree was lightening up the huge patio area and a slow melody came out of the direction of the living room and Summer followed it until she stood in the door way and looked at the back of her dad's head, who sat on one of the huge comfy sofas, looking out onto the patio and the tree which had tons of presents under it.

She didn't say anything; she just sat down next to her dad and snuggled into his side, smiling back at him as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead before both pairs of eyes wandered back to their laps, looking at the heavy photo album and getting lost in long forgotten memories.

Thx for reading it...

You know what to do now...;-)

Bye, Sarah