Summary: Following the abandonment of Ryan and Summer, Seth and Marissa seek comfort from whom neither had ever anticipated: each other.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Pairing: Seth/Marissa.

Feedback: Thanks to those who reviewed:)

goingtoazbaby1804- hahaha, I love Friends! That was so funny.. lol, I love Ross! Wow, you got me caught up in a Friends memory. I miss that show:'(

Anyways.. lol, thanks for reading:)

moon,gates,slaying- I love Seth.. Wow, I love a lot of things! lol. Anyway, I'm glad to finally be updating. I've been so busy, and I probably wont have the chance to post again for at least another week. :S Thanks for the review! ;)

A/N: I hope this can tide ya guys over until I get around to posting again. I made it as long as I could. Wow, writing this really drained the energy out of me. I'll have to go to bed soon, lol. Well, hope ya'll enjoy! ;)

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Marissa cautiously stirred the cream into her coffee, for her hand was a tad bit shaky. Why? Because it had just dawned on her: the wedding was in exactly one week. Seven days away, and there was still so much left to do. It wasn't about the wedding itself. All of the arrangements were made. She could get married tomorrow if she wanted to and everything would still be perfect. No, she faced much bigger issues. What issues? Well, falling in love with the groom for one.. and ensuring that he was in love with her, too. It wasn't so much about comittment- she knew that they already had that. It would just be nice if, on the day of the wedding, the groom was staring at the bride and not the maid of honor.

"Hey kiddo."

Marissa glanced up to see her father standing in the door frame. She watched as he walked toward the kitchen table and pulled up a chair. "Dad.. What are you doing up so early?"

Jimmy smiled and shook his head. It was 7am on a Saturday. What had happened to his daughter? The one who would sleep 'til dusk and stay out 'til dawn? "I could ask the same of you, but I think I already know the answer to that one."

She nodded awkwardly. She didn't exactly enjoy discussing morning sickness with her father. So, she took the opportunity- the moment of silence- to change the subject. "So, uh.. how's grandma? I hear she's sick?"

He laughed a bit before assuring Marissa that her grandmother was fine. He wasn't stupid. He could easily detect when someone's trying to change the subject. "It's fine, kiddo." he finally said. "We don't have to talk about it. I'd actually prefer that we don't."

"Thanks," she replied, relieved.

"So.." he began. "Time is winding down. How are ya holdin' up?"

"I am freaking out." she replied, honestly. Cautiously, she tasted her coffee. Nope- still too hott. "Seeing as how half of all marriages end in divorce," she went on to say. "And this? This isn't even a real marriage."

"Then what is it?" he asked, utterly confused.

"It's the kind of marriage where you don't really love the person, you're just trying to do what's right." she clarified, twirling a loose strand of hair around the tip of her finger. She couldn't believe that she was saying all of this, and to her dad of all people.

"Who are you talking about?" he asked. "You.. or Seth?"

"Both, I guess." she replied, not really knowing the answer to the question. She sighed, and tested her coffee again.. Nope.

"You know, Marissa," he said, and she could tell he was serious, because he always called her 'kiddo'. "You don't have to do this. Your mother would get over it, but you? If you made the wrong deciscion, you may never be able to forgive yourself."

"Yes I do have to do this, Dad." she replied, nodding ferociously. "This kid is completely innocent. I want he or she to grow up with both parents around. And who knows? Maybe we'll grow to love this kid so much that we'll forget that we don't actually love eachother."

"Wow," he said, staring at his daughter in amazement. "I can't believe how grown-up you are. You're already starting to talk like a parent." he sighed, "I never talked to you about this Marissa, but when your mother was pregnant with you-"

"I know, dad." she said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "You did the honorable thing and married her."

"That's actually not what I was getting at." he replied. "I did do the honorable thing, but I was not in love with her when we said our vows.. far from it."

She slowly looked up until her blue eyes met with his. "Go on." she said, knowing that there was more to the story.

"Well, as I said, I was not in love with your mother when I married her.. but after a few months of marriage?"

"Are you saying that you grew to love her?" Marissa asked, clearly catching on to the message he was trying to pass on.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he replied. "And the same thing can happen with you and Seth."

"But how did you know? I mean, how were you so confident?"

He leaned closer to her, as if Julie was going to suddenly appear. "I wasn't." he whispered before getting up to leave the room.

Marissa watched him go and smiled. Slowly, she picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. Perfect.

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Ryan slipped through the door and into the Cohen kitchen. He was hoping that he could be in and out with a bagel before Seth even woke up. After all, he wasn't quite ready to forgive and forget. Unfortunately for him, however, he looked up to see the whole Cohen clan sitting at the table, each enjoying a bagel and coffee. His eyes grew wide, and quickly, he turned around to leave.

"Mornin' Ryan!" he heard Sandy say. "C'mon in and join us."

With his back still turned to them, he made a face. "Nah. I think I'm just gonna go back to bed. Thanks, though." he turned the door handle, but was, again, stopped by Sandy.

"No, really," he insisted. "Come join us."

Ryan scowled, but was suddenly smiling when he turned around to face the group. "Thanks." he grabbed a bagel from the bowl and poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting down.

Seth shifted uncomfortibly in his seat. He suddenly felt as if he was back in the ninth grade, and Ryan was a water-polo player- getting ready to hit him, or pee in his shoe, or something equally unpleasent.

Sandy broke the unbearably long silence by turning to Ryan and saying, just as normally as ever: "So, how'd ya sleep?"

"Fine, thanks." Ryan replied, smearing cream cheese on one half of his bagel.

"Good, that's good." Sandy responded. "Is everything comfortible for you? It should be just how you left it."

"Except for, it's been cleaned of course." Kirsten pitched in. "Done think that the shelves are dusty or anything like that."

"Everything's great.. Thank you." Ryan said gratefully to Sandy and Kirsten.

"Not everything.." Seth said after a short pause.

Sandy and Kirsten simultaneously shot Seth a death glare, warning him to keep his mouth shut.

"You're right," Ryan replied, leaning forward in his chair. He stared at Seth, who was sitting directly across from him. "How could you do it, man? Marissa? There's how many girls in the state of California, and you decide to get Marissa pregnant? To marry Marissa?"

Seth's eyes grew wide, and he was startled to realize that he did not recognize the man sitting in front of him. Whoever it was, it was not his best friend. It was not his brother. "Well, none of that would've happened if you wouldn't have abandoned her in the first place."

Ryan jumped up, knocking over his chair in the process. Seth did the same thing, but, perhaps, a bit more gracefully.

"That is enough!" Sandy threw down his napkin, and confronted the two boys.

Seth and Ryan each took a step back, rarely did they see Sandy lose his cool.

"You two are brothers, and you will not let something like this come between you."

"With all due respect, Sandy." Ryan cut in. "You make it sound like it's no big deal."

"You want to let this destroy your relationship! Fine!" Sandy was clearly still outraged at the situation. "But I wont let it happen under my roof. I want both of you out! And don't come back until you've tied up all loose ends!"

The boys took his warning tone of voice and facial expressions seriously. They immediantly headed toward the doorways- Seth to the front, Ryan to the back- and left the house.

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