A/N So sorry this is late. I promise a new chapter will be up not too long after this…
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Sarah slid over the bar and took the initiative to get them drinks as she greeted the regular bartender there. As if reading each others minds they would throw liquor bottles, shot glasses, pure vodka, and fruit juices from opposite ends, effortlessly letting the right amounts of alcohol skim the tops. Flipping shakers and spinning breakables off their limbs it was a textbook scene straight out of Co.cktail. Over their hands or behind their backs they would exchange ingredients, putting on a show for the customers ready to get wasted. Ryan and Seth watched the two attractive women behind the row of liquor, stunned and become simultaneously impressed.
"That's hot." Seth finally said, speaking up, as Sarah stared back at Ryan with an inviting smile, which he responded to voluntarily.
She slid over a few glasses that landed right in front of them and brought two more over as Summer approached. As they let their glasses clank against each others they downed the fiery liquid that ran down their throats in a hurry. As Ryan's head was tipped upward with the rest of them, Ethan had Marissa's hand in his and led her to the other side of the bar, while oblivious to the people that she passed. Upon getting their heads upright, Marissa and Ethan were out of sight and no one being the wiser.
As Usher's 'Yeah' came on, Sarah perked her head up, "I love this song! Come dance with me", Sarah demanded as she slid back over the bar and grabbed a hesitant Ryan.
"I don't dance…" He called out to her.
"That's okay…" She said with a sly smile as she led him to a spot on the dance floor. Taking the reigns she moved about him like a professional. She slithered against him, and Ryan showed no intention of being uncomfortable or wanting to move, to the point where he actually looked like he was welcoming it. Sarah worked around him like a predator, never losing sight of the objective, and letting her body language be all the communication that was needed between them, and drew out his playful side.
In the midst of it all, something caught Ryan's eye. A beautiful girl wrapped up in another man that looked remarkably like his ex-girlfriend. Quickly he dismissed the far-fetched thought that she was there as Sarah took another hold of him.
Seth and Summer had found their way to a position nearby as they danced disregarding the beat and being carefree, but as soon as Summer caught sight of the relentless woman, she rolled her eyes knowing her best friend who's not too far, may be witnessing the same theatrics.
Ryan and Sarah had been the furthest thing from Marissa's mind after Ethan guided her away from the bar to dance with her. Taking her by the hand and twirling her around, she giggled and he smiled back at her, and they both looked like the sweetest thing. He would come up from behind her with his arms draped over her shoulders and they would sway in sync. As she turned back to face him, Marissa, who wasn't at all use to this atmosphere, soon took after Ethan and looked like a regular, using her God given assets to her advantage, making those around her take notice.
A pair of eyes kept focus on one of the pairs on the dance floor, with a drink in hand and a rising temper, the swift movements from either party became infuriating to the onlooker. Watching from the balcony, they ran their fingers through their hair trying to keep composure. Each laugh, each seductive smile was only more reason to go over there and put an end to it. Setting down the drink, with carefully calculated steps, spiraling down the staircase they approached their target and tapped the offender on the shoulder.
"Care to explain yourself." Roy demanded of Sarah who now came to a halt.
"Oh, please, you're drunk." She refuted unimpressed and turned her back to him, and in an instant he quickly grabbed her by the shoulder forcing her to turn around almost squirming by the pressure. As soon as Roy laid a hand on her, Ryan without fail or question, stepped in.
"Hey, hey, why don't you just sleep it off man." He insisted trying to avoid making a scene.
Roy turned his attention now on Ryan having almost already forgotten he'd been there, "Is this the reason, huh Sarah!" He yelled back at her. "Your little pretty boy! Huh! Is this what you want?"
Ryan was unsure of what he had been meaning, but let it roll off his back knowing he was just another drunk. "Why don't you just calm down, we can sort this out like adults."
Roy began to snap and grabbed Ryan by a part of his shirt, "Oh yeah! Why don't you just, stay the hell out of this!" He shoved Ryan a step back and took Sarah roughly by her wrist.
"Let me go!" She ordered in a strict tone.
People around them had now begun to take notice of what had been happening right by them, Seth and Summer moved closer to get a better look at what was going on, as did Ethan and Marissa from their corner of the club, they moved forward after Marissa had realized it had been Ryan and Sarah who was involved.
Without thinking, Ryan sorted Roy like he had done many times; by the unorthodox methods he grew accustomed to while he was a growing up in his first home. Like a reflex he provided Roy with his best right-hook, his knuckles making complete contact with the left side of his face causing Roy's head to jerk across his shoulder and the room to become a haze. Sarah covered her mouth in shock, and Seth and Summer's mouths dropped at the situation with eyes wide open. Max who rushed into the scene as soon as he was aware, grabbed the drunken menace and dragged him outside.
Ryan was shaking his hand and stretching it out to overcome the sensation that began setting in after such impact. Sarah led him to a lounge seat and Seth and Summer hurried to the bar to grab some ice and back immediately over to their friend. Marissa grabbed Ethan by the hand after seeing the ordeal in order to find where they had gotten to, swerving in between the people who had gone back to carry on with their own lives.
"Are you okay?" Sarah asked concerned as Ryan began to massage his fist.
"Here put some ice on it" Summer offered with a bag of it wrapped in a tea towel.
"Not sure we were gonna see old school Ryan Atwood again…" Seth said with nothing more appropriate to say and Summer tapped him across the chest, while Ryan just smiled managing to find some humor in it, looking back down at his fist.
"Oh my God, are you okay!" Marissa asked worried with Ethan right by her, with her eyes full of alarm. After hearing her voice he immediately lifted his head to look at her after not having seen the sight of her in weeks. Ryan took his gaze to the guy next to her and without thinking, dragged his eyes and caught sight of her hand in his, which Marissa sub-consciously forgot was still there.
Seth was surprised to find Marissa there, as was Sarah, Summer could only look between the two parties of Sarah and Ryan on the seat looking back up at two standing across them. Ryan had now long forgotten about his fist, now too pre-occupied by what had been right in front of him.
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She moved forward, mindlessly letting go of Ethan's hand, and crouched down in front of Ryan, repeating the question 'are you okay?' once more. He was stunned at the sight of her, this place, here and now, was the last place he thought he'd see her; Summer obviously forgetting to mention that she were the one to invite Marissa along. Ryan remained speechless and kept staring between her and the stranger.
With a million thoughts running through his mind, coming to the conclusion that Marissa had actually been dating this guy, but hoping he was making the wrong assumption.
"Are you okay, man?" The stranger speaking his first words to him. Ryan looked up without letting the words register in his mind. As Ethan spoke, it was only then that Marissa finally became aware of the situation she's created. Having already known she would sooner or later bump into him, she stood up and thought of how he could be reacting on the inside.
Ryan became tense, while Ethan on the other hand has no idea as to the complexities of the relationships that surrounded him, but now feeling awkward after no one had spoken a word in what felt like hours.
"Yeah, yeah…I'm…I'm okay…" Ryan slowly blurted out in facing Marissa.
Sarah brought her hand over and rubbed his knuckles in her attempts to make any pain remaining subside, doing her bit knowing she was inadvertently the cause of all this.
Marissa now brought her attention to Ryan and Sarah's hands that were now entwined, taking her turn to let the noise around her morph into silence and concentrate on only the visual in front of her. Ethan who caught sight of this watched between the two like pong, trying to decipher the vague signals that were being transmitted between the young woman beside him and the young man sitting below.
Summer stood by Seth, contemplating if she should be the one to step in and make the introductions. Seeing as how no one seemed that they would be saying anything anytime soon, she spoke trying to ease the tension but added to it instead, "Ah so…you guys haven't met…" She began as both parties now drew their attention towards her, which made it even more nerve wracking, "Ethan, this is Ryan and his roommate Sarah, and this is my boyfriend Seth." She said as she hand gestured towards the corresponding people, with Seth giving an awkward raise of the hand to wave, Sarah giving a small smile, and Ryan still expression still vacant. "Seth, Sarah, and Ryan, this is…Ethan, who came with…Marissa."
"We just met…" Ethan said politely stepping in, and now feeling like an outsider more than ever.
'We just met' were the words that began running circles in Ryan's head. 'What did that mean?' he wondered about the open-ended statement to himself. 'We just met…and now we're seeing each other.' 'We just met…and now we're dating.' 'We just met…and we've already slept together.' 'We just met…and I'm the reason you haven't been seeing your best friend.' There could have been a dozen possibilities, and Ryan thought of every single one.
"Look, its probably getting late anyway…" Sarah began.
"Yeah, it's getting late. We should probably be getting home…" Summer chimed in, agreeing with Sarah which was a first. Their signal to get out of this awkward situation could have not been more obvious considering it was clearly still early.
Ryan sub-consciously hearing their words got to his feet slowly and met Marissa's gaze as they stood eye level to each other. Marissa looked slightly nervous, Ryan's silence was slightly intimidating and she continued to try and consider all the possibilities that are caught up in his thoughts.
"Yeah, I think I'm all Ushered out…" Seth spoke up having nothing else to really say; speaking purely to fill in the blank spaces.
"Do you guys need a ride?" Summer asked politely. Ryan still hadn't let go of his fixation of staring at the blonde opposite him.
"Uh, no…thanks, we drove here." Marissa said softly.
'We' and there was that key word again, dancing like figure eights in Ryan's brain. 'We' as Marissa had said it, now meant her and this new Ethan character she was standing with.
As they exchanged uncomfortable farewells, Seth and Summer led the way toward the entry point, with Sarah a step behind and Ryan last completing the line, guiding Sarah out with the tips of his fingers placed to one side of her waist; now leaving Marissa and Ethan to watch them disappear into the crowd. Although they had long gone out of sight, she kept her eyes set to the spot she last saw him, hypnotized.
"I'll take you home?" Ethan asked sincerely, looking down at her expressionless face as she nodded slowly in response.
Marissa and Ethan shortly followed in the same path, proceeding through the doorway from once they came, now in the opposite direction. The night air was much colder as they stepped outside, as the stars were strung up illuminating points in the sky.
She walked in silence and Ethan had no idea what he should say, so he took a shot. "…I take it this Ryan guy…he's…an ex, maybe?" He said gently.
She looked straight up into him, "Yeah, he is…I think…"
"You think", asking once more carefully.
She smiled, "We're on a break…actually we've been apart for so long, I do think we've broken up."
Ethan saw the look on her face fall at the last part, she was like a vessel, filled with love, confusion, anxiety, and it was clear to anyone she was burdened, but with what he didn't press further to ask.
He opened the car door for her and she thanked him, stepping inside. Driving off and away into the darkness as the bright light of the strip became like candles that were burning out. With the window down the breeze would blow her hair wildly around her face and brush by her shoulders. She would stare into the side-view mirror, staring at herself so long until the image reflected would then only be stagnant shapes. Ethan would glance over at her occasionally just to make sure she was okay.
Marissa felt his eyes each time he would do this, and although she physically didn't gesture anything back, she envisioned a smile to herself, thanking him for being concerned after having only just met her. The night was amazing, their time spent together, she honestly had fun. He seemed sweet, honest, considerate, and she saw she could easily fall for him, and nothing was really stopping her.
Ethan walked her up the stairs of her building and right up to her doorstep. They stood out in the hallway as Ethan kept a hand in one pocket and used the other to fiddle with his cell, and hypnotically rocked back and forth; not expecting anything from her, but trying to keep his distance and ensure she was comfortable around him.
"So this was fun…" He said warily but with a small smile on his face, causing her to respond similarly.
"I did have fun…I'm glad you came with me." She said sincerely.
"Really? Because it got a little awkward there in the end."
She laughed, "…aside from that, I really did have a good time. So…thanks."
"Well…it was my pleasure." Ethan paused, "…and you know, if you ever need someone to create an uneasy situation with, then give me a call." He said trying to ease some tension.
His choice of words caused Marissa to smile once more, "I just might, but not for those reasons." She replied leaving the concept open, and he smiled back as she gave new hope that he will be seeing her again.
While her time away from Ryan had still been short, she slowly had actually begun feeling settled, and getting comfortable in her own space. The idea of growing, changing, possibly moving on, didn't seem all that taboo anymore. Her feelings for Ryan still drift inside her, but if it was time he wanted then she was finally okay with giving him that. This time, while they're apart she would use her time wisely and be open to change around her. Possibly start a new relationship or just gain a new friend. In any case, she concluded this time that was sought out was the right thing.
She grabbed the cell phone out of his hand and began entering her phone number and saved it into his phonebook. "If you call me…I won't hide the fact I'd be happy about it, but if you don't, then it was nice meeting you…Ethan Matthews." She said as she repeated the similar words he had used earlier on.
"Goodnight…" he replied simply with a shy smile appearing on his face.
They stood there for a moment, taking each other until he gave a slight nod and turned, walking away as she took one last look at him before opening her door and heading inside.
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Ryan spent the journey home in a similar fashion; still asking himself questions as to the new person in Marissa's life. It had been quite a while by their standards, since the last time he saw her, and he never thought when they would again, that it would be like this.
The last time he had actually seen her with anyone else was with Alex, but as he was with Lindsay, it hadn't phased him all that much. After Alex though, it had always been Ryan and Marissa, and now this was a whole other experience for him. This Ethan comes out of the blue, and he knows this time he has no say whatsoever and absolutely no claim over her, all he can be is a friend, like he said they should be, which now made Ethan that much more of a threat.
A plethora of thoughts clouded his mind to the point he no loner knew what he was thinking; that everything became such a blur in everything that had happened in the past hour, he no longer could comprehend how he should feel.
In reaching their apartment he said goodnight to Sarah and strolled blankly into his bedroom. Changing out of his smoke scented clothes, he climbed into bed, falling into a deep sleep in hopes the morning would fix all things that now seemed were becoming undone.