"I just can't believe you guys are all moving here," Brooke said excitedly.

Ryan grinned sheepishly. "Well, Seth and I are, yeah."

"So am I!" Summer said, bouncing back into the room, forgetting all about her hangover. "I just talked to my dad. He says where he works is closer to Tree Hill anyway."

Ecstatic, she threw her arms around a still shocked Seth and, for the benefit of the others, gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. He gave a small smile. It appeared the news was still sinking in.

Marissa was particularly subdued. Peyton looked at her sympathetically. Marissa would be going back to Newport without her friends, while they all had fun in Tree Hill – together.

"Look, it's okay," Peyton said, going to sit beside her. "Just talk to your mom. Maybe go back, settle things with her. She'll want to do what's best for you, won't she?"

Marissa shook her head. "My mom's not like that. I suppose that's all there is to it. I'm gonna book an earlier flight. I don't know if I'll be able to stay here, knowing that I have to leave alone. Peyton," she said, smiling a forced smile at her friend's concerned expression. "I'll be fine."

Lucas walked into Brooke's room. Brooke stood up and kissed him. Kissing her back for a moment, he turned to Ryan. "What's going on?"

Ryan had taken Seth and Nathan over to Brooke's house to share the news, but before he told Brooke he wanted Marissa, Lucas and Peyton (much to Brooke's annoyance) to be there as well.

"Seth, Summer and I are moving here. Sandy – Seth's dad – got a job here."

"What?" Lucas turned to Marissa first. "What about – "

"Look, it's fine," said Marissa, a little impatiently. She stood up from where she was sitting on the bed. "I should go."

Smiling briefly at Lucas, she walked out. Lucas walked after her.

"Marissa!"

"What?" she said, turning around. Lucas was surprised to see her wet eyes.

"We'll find a way to get you to stay too." Lucas said. "It won't be the same without you."

"There's nothing you can do," Marissa replied. "You should be glad that the other guys are staying. I'm just putting a damper on it. They should be excited, not worrying about me." She sighed. "I'm just gonna go and book my flight." With that, she turned around and walked out.

Lucas went back into the room, feeling a little hopeless and just in time to hear Nathan ask Ryan, "So what are you going to do about school?"

"Kirsten told me they're trying for admission at a school called Tree Hill High."

"Tree Hill High?" Brooke squealed. "That's where we go! This is going to be so awesome!"

Ryan smiled at her, but it was a preoccupied smile. It was pretty clear his mind was elsewhere and Brooke was pretty sure she knew why.

"It's Marissa, isn't it?"

Ryan nodded.

"Don't worry," Brooke reached out a reassuring hand and put it on Ryan's shoulder. "It'll all work out. I promise."

Ryan looked at her. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."

"Ryan, just trust me on this," Brooke squeezed his shoulder and than turned back to Summer. Ryan couldn't help but to stare after her.

Marissa was walking blindly back to the café, the tears streaming freely from her eyes. She'd always thought of herself as a vital part of the group. She thought the other three had too. But now it looked as though they'd be too busy having fun with their new friends to even remember they once used to be close.

"Hey!"

Marissa looked up, startled, as she collided hard with someone. Preparing to hurriedly apologize and then walk away, she realized who it was.

"Jake." She couldn't control the emotion in her voice. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Marissa, what's wrong?" When fresh tears leaked down her face Jake gently took her shoulders and steered her over to a bench across the café on the sidewalk. He sat her down and then seated himself down next to her.

And just like that Marissa found herself telling a virtual stranger about the news Ryan had told her the previous night, her hopeless situation at home, her unfixable problems with Ryan, everything. And Jake took it all in, and was sympathetic, but never passed judgement. He comforted her when she cried and offered his advice.

And then he had to go. After a brief conversation with someone on his phone, he turned to her apologetically.

"Look, I gotta go," Jake said. "That was my mom. She needs my help. But it was really great getting to know you."

Marissa smiled at him through her tears. "Thanks so much, Jake."

"It's no problem." He extended his hand to Marissa. "And somehow, I don't think this will be the last time I ever see you. We'll meet again." He smiled one last time at her before turning around and leaving.

As Nathan drove Seth back to the café (Seth had wanted to walk, Nathan refused to listen to him) he turned to him.

"Hey, so you're gonna start going to our school, huh?"

Seth nodded. "That's the plan."

"You're aware that the first day of our senior year is tomorrow, right?"

Seth looked at Nathan. "You serious? Wow, this has been one fucked-up vacation."

"You're not as surprised as I thought you'd be," Nathan said.

"I just don't know what to expect. Ever since I got here yesterday, it's just been like this huge rollercoaster ride. It's insane."

Nathan grinned.

"So…" Seth said. "What's this semester got in store for us?"

"Hmm," Nathan said. "We have the second Boy Toy auction. We had another one last year, but I guess the school wasn't creative enough to come up with another way to earn money for charity. And, well, as soon I take the tryouts and finalise the team, we have one really important match coming up. Another of those Secret Sparkle things. What else? Uh, the spring fling. The school play, if you're into that sort of stuff. That's about it for this term."

"Whoa, sounds pretty eventful. So how many dances exactly do you have in a year?"

"Three," Nathan replied. "Spring fling, winter formal and of course, prom."

Seth sighed. "Well, one thing's for sure," he remarked, glancing out of the window. "This year is sure gonna be interesting."

Alone, after Ryan had gone back to the café with Lucas and Summer had run off after Marissa, Brooke lay down on her bed, thinking. She wondered what she would have done if Ryan and the gang hadn't shown up. She was having a miserable and isolated time, but now it looked like she was about to have more fun than she'd had in a long time.

"Brooke?"

Brooke shot up. It was Peyton. "What do you want, Peyton?" Brooke demanded, lying back down again.

"What do I want? Brooke, I want to fix things. I'm so tired of fighting and I don't know what more I can say, except that I'm so, so sorry."

Brooke glared stonily at her.

"Look, Brooke, you have Lucas back. And if you don't want me to, I will never talk to him again. Please believe me."

Looking at Peyton's incredibly remorseful face and her tear-filled eyes, Brooke took a deep breath and eventually offered her a slight smile. Peyton's expression was hopeful.

"Hoes over bros," she finally said, and Peyton grabbed her in a hug. Brooke patted her shoulder and found she was actually glad to have her friend back. She pulled away.

"So, you ready for school tomorrow?" Brooke asked. "It's senior year. Let's make this year a good one, okay? No more fighting."

Peyton nodded. "Definitely. And no more drama, right?"

Brooke looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you freaking kidding me? A year with no drama? What kind of messed year are you trying to make me have?"

Peyton grinned. Same old Brooke.

Marissa pulled out her plain black laptop from her bag and laid it on the bed. Pulling open the screen and turning it on, she got onto her stomach and, resting on her elbows with her legs in the air, she logged on and typed "online flight booking" into Google. She picked the most likely result.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Marissa called.

Ryan walked in. "Hey," he said, and sat down on Summer's bed. "You're really going, huh?"

"Yup," Marissa said, as lightly as she could. She had spent over fifteen minutes in the bathroom, sobbing her eyes out, and was all cried out. She saw that there were a couple of free seats for a flight that very night at ten-forty. She clicked on it.

"Found anything?" Ryan asked. Marissa nodded, typing in her credit card number.

"When is it?" Ryan asked.

"Tonight," Marissa replied. "I thought, the sooner, the better. Besides, what am I going to do while you guys are at school tomorrow?"

"Tonight?" Ryan said, shocked. "But you were supposed to be here two weeks."

"Things change, Ryan." After successfully booking her ticket, Marissa shut down her computer and closed it.

"Marissa."

"What?"

Ryan looked away, wearily. "Nothing. Never mind. I'm going to my room."

He walked out, without so much as a glance back at her.

"Here it is," Nathan stopped outside the café. "You're home for the next…what, two months?"

"That's right," Seth said, unbuckling his seat belt. He was about to get out of the car when he turned to face Nathan. "Listen…thanks, Nate."

"For the lift? No problem."

"No," said Seth. "I mean, also for the lift. Just, thanks for…everything, the comic book store, letting me stay over when I was drunk, making me breakfast. Thank you for talking to me that day on the street. I really appreciate it and…I just wanted you to know that."

Nathan's face broke into smile. "You're welcome, Seth."

"I can't believe you're leaving tonight," said Summer sulkily. She had just come back from Brooke's and Marissa had told her what she was planning to do.

"It's okay, Sum," Marissa said. "You'll be having too much fun here anyway to miss me."

"Don't say that!" Summer said fiercely. "I'm gonna miss you everyday you aren't here. I just wish you had some more time."

Marissa nodded. "So do I," she said, but her voice was detached and sounded cold to Summer's ears. Unsure of what to do next Summer leaned forward and hugged her friend, who remained stiff in her embrace.

"Here's to Marissa," Lucas toasted. They were all sitting at one huge table at the café and it was nine-thirty. The others agreed and raised their glasses, but Marissa checked her watch distractedly. It was supposed to be a sort of farewell for her, but she had been totally out of it so far.

"Maybe it's time I left." she said, standing up. "I don't want to miss my flight."

Summer leapt up and threw her arms around her. Brooke stood up and hugged her next. Peyton was behind her and did likewise. Ryan stepped forward and kissed her cheek. Seth waved from his place on one of the chairs and Nathan said, "Bye, Marissa. It was nice meeting you." She nodded at all of them.

"Thanks, guys. I'm gonna miss you all." She turned to Lucas, who had previously offered to drive her. "C'mon, let's go."

They left. Summer turned to Brooke, with tears in her eyes. "I miss her already." Brooke smiled and patted her hand comfortingly. Peyton had also gone very quiet. She had some really nice talks with Marissa and had found she could really relate to her.

Brooke turned to Ryan, who was staring after the door long after Marissa and Lucas had walked out of it. "Ryan, are you okay?"

Snapping out of his reverie, he nodded. "Sure." Maybe he could start over in Tree Hill. Maybe things would be a whole lot less complicated without Marissa.

As Lucas pulled into the parking lot for the airport, Marissa begun to pick up her things.

"You didn't bring much," Lucas observed. Marissa shrugged.

"I meant to buy everything here." She hauled her backpack over her shoulder. "Well, thanks, Lucas. For bringing me here."

"No problem," Lucas replied. "But, Marissa – I meant what I said. We'll find a way to get you back."

Smiling at him, Marissa begun to walk toward the airport.