Its nearing dark by the time Seth gets up the courage to tell some one about his new job. He hadn't been home yet, but Summer told him not to come home till late anyway.

Nervousness settles itself in his stomach and reluctantly he knocks at the door tor Ryan's apartment.

A few seconds later Ryan opens the door.

"Seth hey, come on in" Ryan steps back smiling

Seth attempts a smile but doesn't pull it off and he walks over to sit on one of the couches.

"So hows it goin man?"

…that was a good question he didn't even really know himself. Was he happy, sad. Seth looks up catching Ryan's quizzical look

"Grandpa gave me a job" the words come out incredibly fast

Silence ensues for a moment and Seth fidgets awkwardly, anxious to Ryan's reaction

Ryan looks confused "But….what?"

"I know, believe me I know, but Grandpa asked me to and its not like I had a job or anything so…"

"But what about your comics, they are your dream"

"Dreams Ryan, that's what they are. This is reality" he answers harshly

"Ok well good for you then….I guess. Have you told Summer yet?"

"No" and he was not looking forward to it, not one bit.

"Are you sure about this you don't exactly seem….happy"

"Well, what about you Ryan you never seem happy with your job"

"I love my job and wouldn't trade if for anything….I just don't like the people I work for. So don't try to make this about me when its clearly not"

"Guess that's me kind of now" he says thoughtfully "Who your working for a mean" he elaborates

"Wow he musta given you a pretty high up job" Ryan moves forward to the edge of his seat.

"Ummm…yeah ….well I'm kinda gonna be shadowing him…learning the ropes"

Ryan's mouth opens a few times, but he remains silent his face unreadable

Seth decides to change the subject knowing fully well that Ryan was incredibly better qualified for Seth's job than he was himself.

"So your apartment looks good, some one been working a little Christmukah magic huh" his words come out sounding weird and high pitched

Thankfully it seems like it was a good choice of topic as Ryan's face takes on a relaxed almost happy look.

"Yeah, that was ahh Marissa" Ryan smiles and glances round

"Well I'm impressed, she's way ahead of me", he relaxes back into the chair feeling better about his situation, pity the weird annoying guilt wouldn't go away though

Ryan rises and moves off to his kitchen and brings back two beers. He throws one at Seth.

He tries to ignore the fact that Ryan just threw it so hard that he has to wait awhile before twisting the cap off.

There's noise at the door and Marissa enters her face red from the cold, she beams a smile at them.

"Hey guys"

They mutter a reply that resembles more of a noisy grunt.

"So what have you bin up to, had a good day?" she moves over to them and sits down next to Ryan.

Seth doesn't fail to notice this and raises his eyebrows at Ryan. The looks returned by a glare from Ryan warning him to back off. Seth smothers a smile trying not to laugh.

"Nothing really" Seth recovers well seeing the weird look Marissa gives him.

"Ugh my throat feels so dry, its so cold out there" she rubs her hands together as if she can still remember the feeling.

And being the courteous gentleman Ryan holds out his beer to her. Marissa smirks and takes it from him taking a long sip. Seth catches Ryan's eye again and shakes his head. Ryan's shrugs his shoulders widening his eyes almost daring Seth to say something.

"Hmm anyway I should probably be going" he pulls out his phone "Yeah, hi one cab to…"

"Don't worry man I'll drive you" Ryan sits forward accepting his beer back from Marissa.

Seth shakes his head and carries on giving the address.

"So what did you and Summer get up to today?" he asks flipping his phone shut

A grin over comes Marissa's face "Oh you'll find out when you get home".

…hmm that was kinda mysterious…but he shrugs it off and gets up taking his still half full beer bottle to the bin in the kitchen. A photo stops him on the way back that's on the refrigerator. Its one of four of them together when they had dinner at mom and dads about a year ago. Their carefree faces did not depict their lives as they were now. It was weird how things changed.

"Hey guys don't you.." Loud laughter interrupts and there's loud thump. Seth rushes out suspicious.

The sight before him is strange to say the least "What the?"

Ryan and Marissa are both on the ground laughing uncontrollably a Christmas fairy is firmly clutched in Marissa's arms. Seth waits patiently for the laughter to subside

"Well?"

"Marissa said Kirsten gave her a Christmas fairy for the top of the tree and.." he starts to laugh again looking at Marissa to continue the story

"We couldn't reach with a chair so I got on Ryan's shoulders and then.." she glances at Ryan trying to contain her laughter "as we got close to the tree, I leaned too far in and Ryan lost his balance and we just about took out the tree on the way down".

Seth shakes his head not even about to try and comprehend their 'just friends' relationship.

"That was way to close, Ryan you must always treasure and look after this fairy okay" Marissa stops laughing turning serious.

The way Ryan stares intently at her makes Seth feel the irrational need to smack their heads together really hard. Ryan glances at the fairy Marissa's clutching protectively then back to her face.

"Alright I promise" he half smiles at her and Marissa's face softens for a second

Unable to contain himself any longer Seth interrupts their little thing they've got going on. "Ugghh you guys are just so…..coupley" these words don't fail to get a reaction. The looks on their faces one of surprise and utter denial.

Ryan clears his throat and glances sideways at Marissa

"Shut up Seth" they both say together. Causing Seth to snigger as they look at each other again.

"So umm I'm gonna" Marissa points off to the kitchen

"Yeah and I needa go ahh…" Ryan looks round wildly

They both turn and bump shoulders

"Sorry" their voices once again in unison, leading to red faces on both, before they walk off in completely different directions than they originally had intended.

Meanwhile Seth is still chuckling to himself quite pleased with his meddling

"So I guess I'll see you later then guys….guys?" There's only silence and Seth lets himself out.

The only problem now was he didn't have their dilema to keep himself occupied with. It was just him and his thoughts until he got home to Summer…..

Sorry that was kind of an all over the place post and your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading!