Starting Over

a/n - Okay, I noticed a big mistake in a paragraph in Chapter 2..so here is it, corrected.

Mari was Jason's girlfriend of a year and a half. She glanced at Anna. "Well, sweetie, it's nice to see you too!" she laughed, shaking snow out of her long silky black hair and blinking her sea-green/blue eyes a few times. She took off her Ugg boots and Chanel coat (Mari was from a very rich family, her dad was an Oil heir and her mom was a lawyer) and followed Anna to the kitchen.

There, the bold is the corrected mistake. I had used those half-square thingy's for the brackets, and it didn't show up.

Disclaimer - Anything you recoznize, I don't own. Unless they r the OC'S (original characters. Read: made by me)
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When the movie had finished and the credits started to roll, they all groaned. "Greaaaat! I was comfortable, now I have to move!" Jason complained loudly. Anna scoffed and threw a pillow at him.

"Don't be so lazy, Jase!" she scolded, shifting into an up-right position. Ricky smiled at her and moved around a bit so she could get up. Anna smiled back, then looked at Brianna, who was grinning like an idiot.

"Anna and Ric-" she began.

Anna glared at her. "Shut. Up. Now." she ordered through clenched teeth. Brianna looked slightly taken-aback.

"Fine." she grumbled, slowly getting up off the couch. Soon, once they were all done the stretching and complaining, everyone stood in the middle of the room, waiting as Brianna retrieved the movie out of the DVD player.

"Well, since we're not going to watch THAT again, we might as well take it back now." Jason said with a yawn.

Everyone nodded in agreement. "Okay, good idea," Brianna said. "Are you all going to come? Maybe we could go out to eat after or something."

"Yeah, sure." was the reply.

"Okay then, let's go!" The group trudged up the creaky stairs, passing Anna's mother and father trying to feed Elizabeth smooshed peas, on their way to the door.

They all bundled up in various coats and scarfs and boots before braving the cold, bitter winds outside. "Oh sweet jesus!" Anna exclaimed as she opened the heavy front door.

"This isn't right, I'm not used to this! At camp it was 100 degrees plus EVERY DAY!" Ricky complained.

Anna smirked at him. "Well, Ricky, it's only like this here in the winter. Summer gets pretty deadly."

"I hope so." he laughed, clambouring into the van's backseat. Anna followed.

Jason and Mari climbed into the 2 middle seats, and Brianna grudgingly got in front. "I'm always alone, always." she mumbled.

"Well, maybe if you called Colin back he'd be here to keep you company." Jason quipped.

Brianna whipped around in her seat and stared at Jason. "Colin called? WHEN!"

Jason gave a nervous laugh. "Oh..heh-heh..this afternoon. I guess I forgot to mention it."

"Fuck you." Brianna hissed, grabbing Jason's cellphone out of his coat pocket and dialing Colin's number.

After sitting in the driveway for 5 minutes listening to her sister talk on the phone like an over-caffeinated cheerleader bitch, she got bored. "Ricky, do you want to WALK to the store? We'd get there faster."

Ricky shrugged. "Sure." Brianna tossed the movie to the back of the van. Quickly, Anna caught it and threw open the van's side door. The two climbed out and began to walk in the direction of the store.

"Well, this is fun." Anna said sarcastically as she pulled up the hood of her baby pink jacket with the beige-fur trimmed hood. It was intensely cold out, and her tiny hands were almost pure red.

Ricky chuckled. "Don't sound so bitter, Anna."

She playfully punched him in the arm. "Shut-up," she laughed. "It's freakin freezing out here! And I left my gloves in the van!"

"Well that sucks." Ricky glanced around.

"Yep." Anna murmured, shoving the video inside a large pocket on the inside of her jacket. It would suck if it froze.

Ricky shifted his scarf around so it covered his neck, and he yanked his black-wool skull cap down farther over his red-tinged ears. "Are you really that cold?" he asked, looking down at Anna.

She gazed up at him through the fur that trimmed her baby-pink hood. "Yep." she said, holding up her red-from-the-cold hands so he could see. "Oh." he said, glancing around uncomfortably.

Then, out of nowhere, he reached down and grabbed one of Anna's hands, keeping his gaze straight ahead. She blinked up at him, but didn't say anything. She smiled and kept walking. For once Anna kept quiet, just liking the way his warm hand covered (almost completely) her tiny, cold one. When they reached the big video rental store Anna led Ricky up to the 'return' slot on the outside wall, and with her free hand, retrieved the DVD from her pocket and pushed it into the slot. There. Done.

"Hey, Anna, do you wanna go get a hot chocolate or something?" Ricky asked quietly.

Anna thought for about half a milisecond. "Okay. Sure, that's cool." she smiled.

Ricky smiled back and led her to the Starbucks across the parking lot from the video store. "Here we are." he said, opening the door for her. Anna thought she was going to pee her pants she was so happy.

They both walked up to the counter. "What do you want?" Ricky asked.

Anna licked her upper lip. "Hmm...just a hot chocolate might be nice."

"Cool, okay. And I'll have...a normal hot chocolate too."

The waitress came up and smiled at them. "Hello, what can I get you?" she asked.

"Two tall hot chocolates." Ricky said politely.

Anna reached into her pocket and pulled out the money for hers and pushed it into Ricky's palm. "Here." she whispered. He looked confused.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"My hot chocolate." she said.

Ricky laughed. "Um, I'm buying."

Anna stood still for a second. "Why?"

"Because I asked you. . " Ricky chuckled. He had a nice laugh.

When their hot chocolates came, piled high with whipped-cream and chocolate sprinkles, they went over to one of the plush couches in the corner of the room.

"This is nice." Anna said, taking a sip of the steaming beverage in her hands.

Ricky raised an eyebrow. "What is?" he asked.

Anna just shrugged. "This." she saud with a smile, her lipgloss now all over the cardboard cup.

"Oh. Yeah, yeah it is." Ricky smiled, taking a sip of hot chocolate, which left him with a moustache of whipped cream. Anna looked up from the table and began to giggle hystericall when she saw Ricky's face.

"What! What's so funny?" He demanded in a whiney voice. Anna looked at him and licked her upper lip. He gave her a weird look.

"Ricky, you...you...you have whipped cream all over your upper lip." she stuttered.

"Oh." he licked it off, making Anna giggle again. 'What's WRONG with me!' she mused quietly.

The pair finished their hot chocolates quickly and threw the empty cups in a garbage can before braving the bitter wind once more. Anna yanked her fur-trimmed hood over her head quickly this time, to avoid having frost-bitten ears. Ricky did the same with his cap, pulling it down to cover both his ears. They walked along, Ricky holding Anna's hand again, talking about everything from baby Elizabeth to Ricky's time at Camp.

"Yeah, aside from the digging it was okay. I mean, I made some pretty great friends there." he explained.

"I bet you miss them lots." Anna said quietly.

"Yeah, I mean, of course. They are some of my best friends. I wouldn't have stayed sane there without them."

"I know what you mean." Anna replied softly.

"You went to a detention center for over a year and missed your best friends from home everyday?" he joked.

"No. No that's not it." she said.

"Then what is it?" he asked, slowing down a bit.

"When you went away." she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, stopping and facing her, still holding her hand.

"Well, when you went away, I cried. Alot. You were my best friend, Ricky. Then you were gone. You left without saying goodbye. I got picked on at school alot when you were gone, too. People would always say stuff like 'Oh, whatcha gonna do, Anna? Your bodyguard is gone!' and I'd say 'He wasn't my bodyguard, he's my best friend.' I almost went insane because of it. Everyday for a long time I'd come home and stare out the window for a while, waiting to see if you showed up. Buy you never did, so finally I stopped. Then, one day, about a week ago Kalie came over. She told me you were coming home today. I don't think I had ever heard better news in my entire life." by the time Anna was done telling Ricky this she was near tears. He gave her a big hug and didn't let her go. They stood there, hugging like that, for a while before the cold finally got to Ricky.

"I hate to break this up, really, I do, but can we keep walking? It's freezing!" Ricky exclaimed.

Anna nodded and wiped her eyes with a frozen finger. "Yeah, let's go. They'll be wondering where we are."

They continued down the long, long road to Anna's house. Once the house was in view she saw Brianna and Jason standing in the front yard. "What are they doing! Are they crazy?" Ricky asked, half shocked.

"Yes, they are. C'mon." Anna dragged Ricky towards her siblings. When the two were close to Jason and Brianna they noticed a worried look on Jason's face, as well as Bri's.

"Hey guys! What's wrong!" Anna asked, her voice full of concern.

"It's Elizabeth. Something's wrong with her. The doctor's are even here, they didn't want her to be outside." Brianna sniffed. Anna dropped Ricky's hand and began to cry. "What, what, what, . . where is mum!" she demanded.

Jason gave his sister a solemn hug. "She's inside, Ann, but I don't think you want to go in there. Maybe it's best if you stay at Ricky's house tonight." Anna looked at Ricky. "It's okay with me, if my mum says yes."

"We already asked her, Ricky, she says it's okay." Brianna replied, wiping her tears. "What about pajamas, clothes!" Anna said in a depressed voice.

"We have your bag packed already, babe," Jason said as he handed her a duffle bag. "If situations change we'll be over to get you in the morning, okay?"

Anna nodded as Ricky put a comforting arm around her shoulder and led her towards his house. They reached the door and Ricky pulled out a key, after a few clicks the door opened and they stepped inside. Ricky took Anna's bag and set it down by the coat rack.

"Mum! Kalie! We're here!" he yelled up the stairs. Pretty soon they heard the pitter-patter of tiny foot-steps and seven year old Kalie appeard in the doorway.

"Anna!" she screeched, throwing herself at her neighbour.

Anna smiled back meekly. "Hey, Kal."

Ricky pulled his sister off of Anna. "Kalie, why don't you go find mum and tell her we're in the living room. Okay?" Kalie nodded seriously and headed off in the direction of the kitchen. They could hear her little voice scream for her mom, and the 'pitter-patter' of slightly bigger foot-steps. Then, the door swung open and Ricky's mum ran to greet them.

"Oooh hey kids!" she squealed, giving them both a gigantic hug. She pulled away from her son and turned to Anna with a serious look on her face.

"Hello there, dear. How are you?" she asked.

"I don't know yet." Anna sighed, thoughts drifting back to home. She wondered what was going on with little Elizabeth. "I'm sure the little one will be fine, sweetie. Why don't you two go up to Ricky's room and watch some TV while I make a snack?" she suggested.

Ricky nodded and Anna followed him up to his room. It was big, decorated in Reds and Blacks and Whites. Typical boys room, Anna thought. They each took a seat of his bed, and Ricky flicked the TV on.

"What would you like to watch, Anna?" he asked.

"Doesn't matter," she siged. "How about MTV or something?"

"Okay, cool." He changed the channel and they watched Bam Margera and his friends dick around for a while before Ricky's mum brought up a bowl of popcorn, a few cookies, and some water.

"Thank you." Anna said.

"Yeah, thanks mum!" Ricky replied through a mouthful of cookie.

"No problem, if you need anything else just gimme a holler! I'm right downstairs." she said before retreating back to the kitchen.

Anna allowed her head to flop back to the pillow. "Arrgh!" she groaned, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

"Anna, I'm sure 'Liz will be okay." Ricky told "I hope so," she said, letting her head fall on his shoulder as he grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I hope so."

a/n - I know it may be a little cheesy, but wtv. And btw, they aren't officially together yet. Probably nxt chappie or chappie 5. Anyways, don't start freakin out sayin how sad it is, Elizabeth will ultimately be fine. So, yeah...lol.

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER! Thanks to my first reviewer

da baddest chic - Woo! Thanks for the awesome review!

a/n - Don't get all upset yet, people. I don't really know what should be wrong with Elizabeth.