Terribly terribly sorry for the huge delay. School's been so incredibly hectic I haven't had time for much else. But my heart's back in it and you can expect an update pretty soon!

Also, I worked very hard on this chapter and I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. I'm sorry if the characters sometimes slip out of character, because I felt that happening a bit.

Anyway, enjoy! Disclaimer: Neither show belongs to me.

Seth searched frantically in his wallet for just one more twenty. That would make it…he calculated quickly – 179.32. Heaving a sigh, he thrust his money into the air and called out the number.

"Going…going…sold!" Whitey cried, slamming the hammer down on the table, pointing at him. Every head in the house turned to look at him.

12 hours earlier

Nathan banged furiously on Ryan's door. It flew open and Ryan stood in the doorway, looking sleepy. "Nathan – "

"Where is he?" Nathan demanded.

"I really don't know," Ryan said. "I haven't seen him since last night. And…well, he was pretty messed up."

Nathan made a frustrated sound. "I've been trying to call him all morning, but he won't pick up his phone."

Ryan stepped out of his room and pulled the door behind him. He motioned for them to go down the stairs to the café and they began walking.

"Does he really think we won't understand?" Nathan said, hopelessly. "Does he think we'll abandon him or something because of this?"

They sat down at a table and Ryan offered a small smile. "I wish I could tell you what's going on his head right now. I've never been through anything like this before, but I imagine it's very difficult."

"Of course it would be!" Nathan said impatiently. "But that's what your friends are for. They're suppose to help you get through it – "

"Nathan?"

Nathan's head whipped around. Marissa was standing behind him.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I borrow Ryan?"

"Not at all," he said. He kicked back his chair, shot Ryan a look and walked out. Ryan looked up at Marissa.

"What's up?" he asked, as she sat in the seat across him.

"We need to talk to talk," she looked at him meaningfully. "And you can't say you haven't seen it coming."

"Talk?" Ryan asked. "About what?"

Marissa sighed. So he was going to make her do all the talking. "About us, Ryan. This relationship hasn't exactly been…functional since we came here. Actually, even before that."

"And?" Ryan said. Of course he knew where this was going, he wasn't stupid. He just wanted to make her say it first.

"Maybe it wasn't the best idea," Marissa admitted. "And we've put each other through enough."

Ryan raised his eyebrows.

"Fine," Marissa said. "I suppose I've put you through enough. But, either way, neither of us seem to be happy with the way things are. And we've barely spent two minutes together. So maybe it would be best if we just…gave being friends a try."

She held her breath, waiting for his reaction.

To her surprise, he smiled a little sadly.

"It's really not a surprise," he said. "And I definitely agree with you, Marissa. I care about you a lot and I want you to be happy. And I don't think you can be that with me."

Marissa sighed in relief. "But we'll be cool, right?"

Ryan laughed. "Let's hope so. Friends! What a concept."

Both smiling, they reached across the table for a hug.

"The stupid dirty slut!" Brooke ranted, pacing up and down her bedroom. "I've been nothing but hospitable to her since she got here and what does she do? Sleep with my boyfriend!"

"Brooke – " Peyton began, but Brooke cut her off.

"I know, right? What a bitch. She hasn't even bothered to try and apologize. It's the very least she can do."

Peyton opened her mouth to say something, but a knock at the door interrupted her.

"Yes?" Brooke called.

Marissa opened the door. Brooke's face relaxed and she attempted a smile.

"Hi, Marissa. Enjoying being back?"

"Yeah," Marissa smiled back. "It's great. Look, I just wanted to apologize on Summer's behalf. She feels really cut up about what she did. She hasn't let herself out of our room yet and she won't talk to anyone."

"Good," Brooke said, her smile vanishing. "She deserves it."

Marissa too looked to be on the verge of saying something but Peyton shot her a warning glance, and she thought better of it.

"So anyway," Peyton said, changing the subject. "I bet Ryan's really glad to see you back. Have you two spoken?"

"Um, yeah," Marissa replied. "We sort of broke up."

Brooke's hand flew to her mouth and her and Peyton were instantly at Marissa's side.

"Oh my God, are you okay?"

"When did this happen?"

Marissa shrugged. "It's no big deal. Brooke, don't worry, I'm totally fine. And Peyton, it happened today over breakfast. Hey, have any of you seen Seth?"

"No, why?" Peyton asked, concerned.

"We haven't seen him since Summer's confession last night and Nathan's totally freaking out. To be honest, I'm a little worried too. Seth's never done this before."

"We should all try and find him," Brooke said immediately.

"Definitely," Peyton agreed. "Shall we call Ryan and Luke?"

Marissa nodded and before long, the topic of Summer and Lucas's betrayal was forgotten.

Two hours later, and Ryan, Lucas, Marissa, Brooke and Peyton met back at the café. Brooke was studiously ignoring Lucas and sat as far away from him as the table allowed.

"Any luck?" Peyton asked Ryan.

He shook his head. "Obviously not."

"Hey, did anyone call Nathan?" Brooke asked. "Haven't seen him in awhile."

"I tried," Lucas said. "But he won't answer his cell phone."

"And…" Lucas said, hesitantly.

"Summer?" Marissa guessed. He looked sheepish. "She's still upstairs."

Brooke stood up abruptly. "I should go," she said. "I've got stuff to do. Let me know when you find Seth, okay?"

Marissa stood up to follow her, but Peyton stopped her. "Let her go. She's upset, she'll want to be alone."

They heard a muffled sobbing sound from upstairs, and Peyton looked at Marissa, who shrugged. "I've already tried."

Peyton stood up. "It's worth a shot."

Peyton knocked gently on the door and pushed it open. Summer looked up from her place, facedown, on the bed. Her face was tear streaked, her hair tangled and her clothes rumpled. She was a complete mess.

Peyton walked in and sat next to her on the bed. "How you doing?" She winced. "Sorry, stupid question."

Summer sniffed and blew her nose with a tissue. "Don't you totally hate me? She's your best friend."

"Well, I sort of did almost the same thing. Actually, mine was worse. Lucas and I were actually sneaking around behind her back while they were dating."

Summer's eyes widened. "Whoa, that is worse. Except that you're her best friend. She has to forgive you. Who am I to her?"

"Actually, because I'm her best friend just makes it that much worse. And Brooke is a lot more forgiving that she's given credit for." Peyton patted her arm. "Don't worry, she'll get over it. But I don't think that's why you're up here sobbing your eyes out."

Summer sighed. "No," she confessed. "It's not. Have you found him yet?"

"Nope, no luck," Peyton said. "So how long was this going on?"

"About six months," Summer said.

Peyton whistled. "Well, that's a long time to be keeping a huge secret like that. Especially from your best friends."

Summer nodded. "You can say that again."

"So see?" Peyton said, smiling. "You kept it for as long as you did without fault. Eventually it had to come out. So maybe it's for the best."

Summer smiled. "Thanks, Peyton."

"No problem."

Nathan got out of his car outside the comic book store. He would bet all his dad's money that Seth would be here. He only wondered why he hadn't thought of it before.

He pushed open the door and went right to the back, where barely anyone ever went. Sure enough, there was that curly dark head, bowed over some comic book Nathan didn't recognize.

Seth looked up. "Nate," he blurted out involuntarily.

"Seth," Nathan began, but Seth stood up and began to walk out. Nathan wouldn't let him. Seth stepped to the right – so did Nathan. He tried the left, and Nathan followed suit. Finally Seth just stepped forward till his face was only two inches away from Nathan's and glared at him. "Get out of my way."

"No," he said stubbornly.

So Seth just walked straight into him, pushing him blindly, his vision blurred by the tears gathering in his eyes. Nathan grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a tight embrace. At first, Seth fought against him, but he eventually gave in and collapsed on him, sobbing silently into his shoulder.

"Hey, Lucas," Ryan said. Marissa had gone upstairs to her room. Peyton had left and she wanted to be with Summer, lest she do something drastic. "What's tonight?"

"You mean the Boy Toy auction?" Lucas asked distractedly, wiping the counter with a dishrag. His mother had a slight headache and had requested him to take the afternoon shift.

"Yeah, that," Ryan said. "So what's that all about?"

"Well, basically, the basketball team are the ones being auctioned it. It's easy. Whoever bids highest for you wins your company for the evening and a kiss at midnight. Last time they held one, my best friend Haley got me."

"Really?" Ryan asked. "Where's she now?"

"On tour," Lucas said, putting down the rag. "She's, like, this awesome singer and is over there with artists like Chris Keller and the Wreckers."

"Chris Keller?" Ryan wrinkled his nose. "I saw an interview of his once. He isn't the nicest person in the world now, is he?"

Lucas laughed. "You can say that again. And the fact that it was his fault Haley left just makes me hate him even more. Well, him and Nathan's."

"What do you mean, him and Nathan? I thought Haley and Nathan used to be together."

"They were," Lucas said. "But Nathan was never very supportive of Haley's music career. He told her straight on the day that she left that if she did, they would be done for. With an unreasonable deal like that, of course she left. It took me a long time to properly forgive Nathan and I think it's only recently that he's properly started to forgive himself. He's doing great now. I guess we have Seth to thank for it."

Nathan gently lead Seth away from the store and toward his car. Seth had stopped crying, but his eyes were red-rimmed, his face was puffy and his voice was shaking. He helped him into the passenger seat and then came around the other side to get into the driver's side.

When he did, he looked at Seth seriously. "So why don't you tell me why you're crying? Why you're hiding from all of us out here?"

Seth looked down. "It's my most shameful secret," he said, in a voice barely above a whisper. "Being straight and having a beautiful girlfriend was about the only thing going for me. Without it, I have nothing. There's no reason for any of you to talk to me."

"Seth," Nathan said, looking very fierce. "Don't you dare, okay? Don't you dare talk like you're worthless! You are one of the nicest and most interesting people I've ever met and I think you're amazing because of who you are, not what you are. And who you are is Seth Cohen. Who doesn't love Seth Cohen?"

"Summer," Seth mumbled.

Nathan's expression grew hard. "Don't talk to me about her, okay? Don't confuse what she did for you as noble. She was your friend and it was her duty as a friend to help you in any way that she could, not sell you out the first chance she got. And she clearly thinks nothing of friendship anyway. Look what she did to Brooke."

Seth looked at him curiously. "Of course what she did for me was noble. I'm kind of mad at her too right now, but what she did was really sacrificing. She hasn't dated anyone for so long, and she could have practically anyone she wants. She hasn't told a soul about this and she has the biggest mouth of anyone I've ever met. What she did to Brooke was wrong, sure, but I can't say that I'm not proud to say she was my friend."

Summer came down the stairs to the café cautiously and slowly, not wanting to risk a run-in with Brooke. The coast seemed to be clear. She sighed in relief and walked down to the counter to order.

"Summer?"

She spun around, only to find Lucas sitting behind her, alone at a table.

"Hi," she said warily. "Where's Ryan?"

"In his room, getting dressed," Lucas replied. "Listen, are you okay?"

"I suppose," she said dully. "Don't you hate me anyway?"

"No more than I hate myself right now," Lucas said dismissively. "It was my fault as much as yours."

Summer smiled weakly. "Do you think Brooke is ever going to let this go?"

Lucas shrugged. "I hope so."

Preparing to leave, Brooke stood in the doorway, counting her money. Peyton and Marissa were right behind her.

"So how much do you guys have on you?" Brooke asked.

"I have a couple of fifties and maybe some loose change," Peyton replied.

"Marissa?" Brooke wanted to know.

"One hundred and twenty," Marissa said. "Approximately."

"Excellent," Brooke said. "And we help each other in emergencies, deal?"

"Definitely," said Peyton. "Let's go."

Ryan walked down the stairs to find Lucas and Summer talking by the counter. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he went up to them.

"Hey, Summer. Luke, we gotta get going."

"Hi," Summer said. She looked to be in a better state.

Lucas stood up. "Okay. Hey, Summer, do you want to hitch a ride with us?"

"I don't think Brooke would like that," Summer said. "I'll just get a cab. See you there."

"Seth, you're coming, right?" Nathan demanded. They were at his house and the Boy Toy auction was going to be starting soon.

"I don't know," said Seth. "I don't really feel up to it."

"Please come," Nathan said. "It won't be the same without you. And you need a night out."

Seth looked hesitant.

"For me?" Nathan begged.

Seth gave in. "For you."

Marissa, Brooke, Peyton, Lucas, Ryan, Summer, Seth and Nathan all arrived at almost the same time and they were one of the first ones there. Brooke dragged Peyton to a far corner of the place for the audience. Marissa joined Summer on the other side, feeling bad for making her ride alone. Seth sat somewhere in the middle, surrounded completely by girls and feeling very out of place. Ryan, Lucas and Nathan made their way backstage.

"So what's the crowd usually like?" Ryan wanted to know. "And is it necessary to wear your basketball jersey?"

"Well, the crowd is usually pretty insane." Nathan replied. "And no, it isn't. We usually do though. Team spirit and all that."

"Great," Ryan pulled off his shirt and slipped on the basketball jersey that was handed to him by one of the swooning volunteer girls. "So who's up first?"

"You are," Nathan said. "Atwood."

"Fantastic," Ryan muttered. "And you?"

"I'm last, even though my last name's not," Nathan informed him. He shrugged. "Captain privilege."

Lucas peeked around the curtain to the stage, to find the audience suddenly a lot larger than it had been before. The clock was ticking – it should start any minute now.

Sure enough, Whitey took his place on the podium, hammer in hand. He leaned into the mike. "Hello and welcome to the second annual Boy Toy auction. We're due to start in a few minutes, so I would advise to all take out your wallets. And please be generous, ladies, this is for charity!"

Seth winced at the word 'ladies', feeling more and more out of place by the minute. He couldn't wait for the thing to start so the lights would go off and everyone would just stop staring at him.

Two minutes later, his wish was granted as the doors swung shut and Whitey stepped back onto the podium. "I now declare the Boy Toy auction open…!

Hope you liked it! Please please review and thanks for reading...)