A/N: This chapter takes place about a week after chapter 7.

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Screenwriting an Apology

-Trey-

I haven't talked to anyone in about a week. Especially not Volchok. I'm not quite sure where I stand with that situation anyway.

So I dcided to go see Alex. It's dinner time, so hopefully she doesn't have her "hands full" again. And I want to see if she'll lie to me about whether she's found someone new.

When I arrived at Alex's place, I knocked on the door and she opened it right away. She looked much happier to see me than last time.

"Trey! Come on in!" she said." Marissa and Summer are at the Cohen's talkin' to Kirsten or something."

"Oh okay," I said, surprised she even let me through the door."

"You can have a seat right over there," she pointed to the couch. It was a new one. It was green.

"I like how you redecorated everything."

"Thanks! Green was the only color the three of us could all agree on for a theme."

"Looks good. I like the curtains."

"What, are you gay?" Alex laughed. "Since when do you care about curtains!"

I cleared the nervous lump from my throat. "They stand out a lot more now."

"Hey, whatdya want to drink? We've got Mike's Hard, Grape Smirnoff, Kahlua, Sierra Mist, Birch beer…," she listed them off, with her head lost in the refrigerator.

"Birch beer's fine. I've had enough alcohol lately."

She poured a glass, handed it to me and mixed some Smirnoff with grape soda. She came over and sat in the chair next to the TV, facing the couch.

"Jesus, nice TV. It's taller than me."

"Yeah, Marissa bought it with some money she mooched off her mom."

"Yeah, she does that quite often, doesn't she?" I asked, remember the two thousand dollar abortion she didn't even need.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "I'm definitely not complaining though."

"Anyway, I just wanted to see how you've been." I lied.

"Oh okay. It's funny because I almost called you right before you showed up!"

"Oh…why didn't you?"

"Well I ended up forgetting," she said.

"Oh okay, what did you need to talk to me about?"

"Well, I don't really know where to start…remember when you asked me if I had a boyfriend?"

I knew what she was going to tell me but I acted like I didn't.

"Well, I was telling the truth. I don't have a boyfriend."

"Okay," I nodded.

"I have a girlfriend. When we let Summer move in with us, you faded farther away and she moved in closer. I didn't expect it. It just happened that way-"

"I had sex with Volchok!" I screamed, unable to hold it in any longer.

"I'm sorry I didn't just tell you the truth before-wait, WHAT!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to tell you yet."

"You, WHAT? You messed with that sceezy shit?"

"Well, I ddn't mean to…It just sort of happened…"

"It's okay, shit happens," she said, shrugging it off.

"Well," I sighed," The real reason I came to see you was to let you know that I'm moving away."

"What? When?" she asked, looking worried.

"I'm moving in with Luke and his dad. I'm packing tonight and leaving tomorrow morning."

"But why?" she argued.

"Well, I don't know if you'll understand. I don't really have anyone here for me anymore. I mean, you're with Summer now, and ryan's never coming home…and Luke offered me a room in his house. I called him a couple hours ago, so he'll be expecting me in the morning.

"Well," she said, getting teary, "It'll be good for you to have some space to figure everything out…just remember you've got people here who would love for you to stay, or at least visit."

"Alright." I blinked back some tears, and swallowed so I wouldn't start to cry when she hugged me tightly.

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About an hour later, I figured I'd head over to the Cohens' house again while everybody was there. That way I could do a quick, general goodbye.

So I showed up and went through the front dor since it was unlocked and I heard people talking out back by the pool house.

I saw a light in Sandy's office so I saved as I walked by and something caught my attention. I pretended to walk by the other direction. I stood against the wall next to the doorway. He was talking on speaker phone.

"What do you mean they re-opened the case?"

"Sandy, it's a good thing. Nothing worse can happen to your client. He could even be released."

"How do you figure," Sandy's voice was deeper.

"The detectives within the L.A.P.D. uncovered the evidence files. Apparently fingerprints were overlooked during the primary. They didn't bother conducting a follow-up so we've got some serious shit on them."

"What was found recently? Anything worth pursuing?" Sandy asked, as I heard his pen scratching against a notepad.

"Well, Sandy, it appears that our best piece of info at the moment is the autopsy report. It must have been convenient for the prosecution to say the victim died from head injuries and loss of blood. But he died of asphyxiation."

"Ah," he said," and it was consistent in both confessions that neither of the boys strangled the victim at any point during their encounter. Boy, will the wife and kids be happy to hear this one!"

"No, no, Sandy, you can't do that just yet. I've decided our best bet is to make an agreement. Trying to find the actual perp would make the prosecution look really bad and of course they wouldn't want that! So I'm going to write a proposal for Ryan's conviction to be reversed in exchange for us keeping their screw-ups on the low."

"Sounds good to me," Sandy agreed.

"Alright, I'll let you know the rest of the deal tomorrow at the office."

Click.

I walked away quickly.

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Disclaimer: I do not own The OC or any of its characters.

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