A/N Have I ever told you lovely people how amazing you are? I really appreciate your reviews. I am sad to say the other day I kind of sort of felt depressed again. Now, I'm fine now, but we'll see how it goes. Baby steps right? You guys probably don't care, but oh well, haha, now you know. Thanks for your reviews! R/R, only one more chapter after this!

Ch. 15: Stick together

When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

-Robert Fulghum

As Ryan and Marissa soon learned, being friends with each other wasn't exactly easy. It was awkward and they really had nothing in common, so they rarely did hang out with each other. Marissa was willing to overcome the awkwardness, or at least attempt to, if it meant she could spend time with Ryan. However, he didn't seem to feel the same way about her, so he constantly avoided her. They hadn't really broken any ground and Marissa wondered if they could even technically be called friends.

She walked into her Speech class and saw that Ryan was already seated. She took her seat next to him and he gave her a small, friendly smile. She returned the small gesture and looked around for the teacher. When she realized the teacher wasn't yet in the classroom, she glanced over at Ryan to see him playing with his pencil. "So, um, I haven't seen a lot of you these past couple of weeks," Marissa commented. It had been around two weeks since they decided to be friends.

He nodded and continued to play with his pencil. "Yeah, I know. I've been really busy." He briefly glanced at her before trying to stand his pencil up straight by the eraser. "I've been going to Chino a lot and when I am home I'm either doing homework or hanging out with Seth."

She nodded and stayed silent for about a minute. "Oh, that's, um, really cool?"

He noticed the hesitance in her words and looked over at her. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and avoided his eyes. "Nothing."

He nudged her with his shoulder playfully and said, "Come on. We're friends, and friends tell each other stuff right?"

She bit her lip, wondering if she should tell him. It wasn't really that big a deal that they didn't spend any time together, right? Just because he was getting over her didn't mean she had to get upset and demand to see him every now and then. It was perfectly normal for him to want his own life, especially after what she did to him. But no matter how much she told herself this in her head, her heart kept whispering, "He doesn't love you anymore."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then said, "It's kind of hard to be your friend and not see you." She looked into his eyes briefly before looking down at the desk. She couldn't stare into his eyes for too long or else she would get lost in them, which in turn would just further complicate things.

"Oh," he said, frowning a bit. He remained silent for a moment and then quietly asked, "Well, do you want to hang out tonight? We could, um..." He looked to her for help, but she was at a loss too. What did guy and girl friends do? When she didn't say anything, he pathetically said, "Play video games?"

She raised her eyebrows. "That could be...fun?"

He nodded and halfheartedly said, "Yeah...totally."

The teacher came in before she could add anything else. They sat in class and listened to Mrs. O'Dowd lecture about the seven deadly sins of listening, both bored out of their minds. After class was over they both stood and looked at each other awkwardly. "Um so...see you tonight?" Ryan asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

She nodded and bit her lip again. "Um, yeah, see you." She watched him walk away longingly, wishing she could be holding his hand or kissing him. She walked out of the classroom and met up with Summer since they had the same next class together.

"So what's new with you?" Summer asked.

"Ryan and I are going to hang out this afternoon at his house," she informed her best friend.

Summer's face broke into a large smile. "This is great! What are you guys going to do?"

Marissa sighed as they arrived at her locker. She opened it and pulled out some books while saying, "We're going to play video games."

Summer laughed but then stopped when she realized her friend wasn't joking. "Wait! Seriously?"

Marissa nodded dejectedly. "How much worse can my life get?" she groaned.

Summer bit her lip to keep from smirking. "Who knows, maybe he'll fall in love with you all over again when he sees how skilled you are at the PS3."

Marissa glared at Summer. "Sum, this isn't funny, and you know I suck at video games!"

"Well, it's the thought that counts," Summer said with a shrug. She suddenly got serious. "But seriously, Coop, this is your chance."

Marissa raised her eyebrows. "Chance at what?"

"To make him realize how much he misses you," Summer said. At Marissa's incredulous look she said, "Look, you've been broken up for what, four weeks?" When Marissa nodded she continued. "So that's four weeks of letting himself believe he can get over you. Now you have a whole evening to let him see what he's missed."

Marissa thought about it, still frowning. "I don't know..."

Summer nodded. "Come on, think about it. If Atwood can get along with you now, it's going to make him remember what things used to be like with you guys." They reached their class. "Come on, this is the best thing that could possibly happen."

Marissa still wasn't sold on the idea. "I still don't know. Things between us are just extremely awkward right now. Won't forcing ourselves to hang out just make it worse?"

Summer shook her head. "Of course not. You suck at video games." Marissa glared and Summer held up her hands in surrender. "I'm just speaking the truth here, Coop. You suck at video games, so it will make him laugh. Making him laugh will make him remember how much fun you guys had. Remembering how much fun you had will make him realize his life pretty much sucks without you!"

Marissa smiled at her friend's enthusiasm. "We'll see."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That evening Marissa knocked on the Cohen's front door nervously. She knew she should be calm and relaxed since this was only Ryan, but for some reason her stomach was flip flopping and all of her nerves were on edge. The door opened and her heart skipped a beat when she saw Ryan. How was she ever going to be just his friend when all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and never let go? She plastered a small smile on her face. "Hey," he said, smiling softly at her. It made her heartbeat come more rapidly.

"Hey," she said. He stood aside and let her enter the house, then closed the door softly behind them. He led her to the living room.

"So I was thinking we could play this new ninja game Seth got," Ryan informed her, turning on the PS3. "It's supposedly a lot of fun."

Marissa sat down on the couch and watched him getting everything set up. He picked up a controller and handed it to her, then sat down on the other side of the couch, leaving an ample amount of space between them. As she glanced over at him, she was again reminded how much she missed him. Oh what she would do to be able to scoot closer to him and be in his arms...

"So, do you play a lot of video games with Seth?" Marissa asked, trying to strike up conversation as the game got started.

He nodded and got them set up in the game. "Yeah," he said distractedly.

For some reason his tone hurt her. "Oh, okay."

He seemed to have realized he wasn't exactly being sociable. He turned to her and offered her a small smile. "Seth loves to challenge me to games. It's how we bond."

Marissa tried to slow her heart down with great difficulty. Why did her senses get heightened when she was near him? Why did her body seem to be on fire when all he did was smile? "That's great."

He nodded and turned back to the screen. "Okay, these are your controls..." He explained what each button was used for and what they were supposed to do. "Now, just follow me and attack whatever attacks you..."

Suddenly they were ambushed by a bunch of weird looking characters and Marissa shrieked. She started pressing random buttons, completely ignoring everything Ryan had just explained to her. When the screen flashed, 'Level Failed,' she looked at Ryan confusedly. "What happened?"

He tried not to roll his eyes at her game playing skills. "Um, you killed me."

"Oh, I did?" she asked, staring at the controller with a frown.

He nodded and tried not to laugh. "Yeah. We lost pretty bad."

She bit her lip and looked over at his amused face. "Sorry?" she offered.

He laughed and said, "It's okay. You just started...let's try again."

She nodded and said, "Okay, I'll be better this time, I promise.

He smiled to himself and restarted the level. Marissa felt warm and bubbly inside at the way Ryan smiled at her as she turned back to the screen. They were ambushed again and she went crazy with pressing buttons again. This time they lasted a little longer, but when the screen flashed they had failed the level, she bit her lip again. She refused to look at Ryan. "You don't play video games, do you?"

She gave him a sheepish smile and shook her head. "I've never played before," she admitted.

He just smiled and laughed a little. "Why didn't you tell me? We could have found something else to do."

"Like what?" She challenged, keeping her tone light. "What is there for us to do?"

He frowned. "Well, what did we used to do?"

"Talk or make out, mostly," she reminded him, her voice loosing all its playfulness. "And when we weren't together, we just talked on the phone."

The frown remained in place. "Well, there has to be something we can do..."

She shrugged. The awkwardness of being around each other seemed to make the room more tense. "Um, we can talk? Catch up, maybe?"

He shrugged and set down the playstation controller. "Okay, what do we talk about?"

She bit her lip and thought about it. What was there for them to talk about? She thought long and hard, then finally asked, "So have you decided who you're going to go see Journey with this weekend?"

He looked at her like she had two heads. "What? Journey is this weekend?"

She nodded. "Saturday night." She studied him for a moment before saying, "You haven't even thought about it, have you?"

He shook his head and admitted, "I've had other things on my mind." He frowned and then asked, "What do you mean by me deciding who I'm going to see them with?"

"There are two tickets," she reminded him.

"Oh, right," he said.

The silence was even worse than the awkward conversation. "Yeah. You should find someone...maybe Seth?"

He shook his head. "Seth doesn't like Journey at all. He'd make fun of them during the whole thing." He was still lost in thought, but then he suddenly looked at her with a weird look on his face. "Hmm..."

"What are you thinking?"

He studied her, obviously thinking long and hard about something. Finally he said, "Why don't we go together?"

She stared at him with a baffled expression. "Really? Cause I mean, I get it if it's too weird for us to go..."

"We're friends," he said, interrupting her before she could start to ramble. "Which means we can hang out together. Friends to go concerts with each other all the time, right?"

She nodded. "Well, yeah."

"So it would only make sense that we go together," he continued, looking at her for approval. "Right?"

She couldn't argue with that logic. She smiled softly and said, "Right."

He smiled genuinely at her. "Good, it's settled then. Me and you will go to L.A. and see Journey this Saturday night...as friends."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was torture being this close to Marissa and not being able to reach for her hand. It was mere inches from his own as it rested on her leg. He wondered what she would do if he reached over and placed his hand over hers – if she would care, or even notice. As far as he could tell, she seemed completely okay with only being friends. She never looked as nervous around him as he felt around her. She didn't seem to be completely heartbroken.

He felt so awkward around her because she obviously didn't care they were broken up anymore. Sure she was the one who suggested the whole friends thing, but so far she hadn't come to him looking to hang out. It was so frustrating not being able to go up to her in the hallways and just say hello, but he had been waiting for her to make the first move. He didn't know how to be friends with a girl. Well, he did with Theresa, but she was different. He wasn't in love with Theresa, but he was so in love with Marissa he thought was going crazy.

So, yeah, he may have been avoiding her, but it was just too hard to be her friend and only friend. He would suggest they be something more, but he wasn't ready for that step yet. He was in all honestly still completely angry with her for what she had done to him, but he was still more hurt than anything. He didn't know if he could trust her again, or even if he really wanted to because it might just bring him nothing but pain.

However, that didn't stop him from longing to be the way they once were, or for her to try and win him back. In fact, he was all for her trying to win over his heart because it at least showed she wanted him, but this whole thing she was doing where she actually allowed him to ignore her wasn't what he wanted. He wanted her to keep fighting for him, for their relationship, but it seemed like the only thing she was really fighting for was being his friend. And even that was completely awkward.

He had thought long and hard about it the other night and decided this concert was important for their relationship. If things went well tonight it meant they might actually have a shot at having some sort of relationship again, even if it was only a simple friendship. If they could get through tonight without fighting and actually had some fun, it would be a real defining moment for them.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by Marissa's voice. "No offense, Ryan, but this is kind of boring. Can we turn on the radio or talk or something before I completely go insane?"

He glanced over at her and cracked a smile. "Okay, we can listen to the radio, just none of that crap that you and Seth tend to lean towards."

"How rude, I am hurt," she joked, putting a hand over her heart. "You're just jealous."

"Of your poor excuse for music? Please," he said with a playful roll of his eyes. He rummaged around for a little bit and then pulled out a CD. "Here, put this in."

"What is it?" She asked, pulling the CD from the case. She looked at it and then raised her eyebrows. "Journey?"

He nodded. "I figured if we were going to go see them, you should be properly educated."

She laughed and put the CD in. After a few seconds, the music started to play. "What song is this? I swear I've heard it before..."

"It's called 'Don't Stop Believin','" he answered her, glancing over at her. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" she asked, deep in thought, trying to remember where she had heard the song.

He shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you don't remember."

She frowned, trying to understand what he meant. Then it hit her. "This isn't the song..."

He looked over at her with a smile. "When we were at Theresa's house..."

Marissa laughed. "And Anthony got up on the table and started singing?"

"And Theresa told him to get down because it was time for his nap..."

"But he jumped off the table and ran to the other room, still singing..."

"And Theresa told him he was going to be kidnapped by the singing police because he was singing when he wasn't supposed to be..."

Marissa laughed. "And the he ran over to me and jumped on my lap, begging for me not to let them take him away. So that was this song?"

He nodded and smiled over at her, touched that she did in fact remember this one moment dealing with his nephew. "Yeah, it was. I used to beg Theresa to play this for him, even if I wasn't there, so he would have something to remember both me and Trey by."

"Back when you were in jail?" she asked, her voice growing softer and more sympathetic.

He nodded and quietly said, "Yeah. I used to sing it inside my head. It got me some tough times. I don't know why, I just love that song."

"I thought you said 'Lights' was your favorite song?" she said, remembering a previous conversation of theirs.

He nodded. "Yeah, it's another good one. This song is just closer to me in that way." He looked over at her quickly before turning back to the road. He was very touched that she remembered his favorite song. She must have taken this whole bet thing very seriously.

They continued to chatter about small things until they finally reached LA. The went and got something to eat before heading to the building where the concert was being held. They looked for their seats and when they found them, Ryan was in awe. She hadn't been lying when she said they would get a good view of the stage. He looked at her anxious eyes and said, "These seats are incredible."

She smiled widely, obviously pleased with herself. "Well, one of the many joys of being Jimmy Cooper's favorite daughter is some pretty awesome allowance money."

He smiled and smiled at her gratefully before looking back at where the stage crew were getting set up. "This is amazing, really. I don't know what to say..."

She shook her head, the smile still in place. "Don't say anything. It was a gift for Christmas...it's nothing."

He wanted to argue that for someone that was born and raised in the worst neighborhood of Chino, who had seen his mom get shot, had endured prison, and quite possibly worse of all had a broken heart, this was something amazing. But he kept his mouth shut and sat down, anxiously awaiting for the concert to start. After a few minutes of bouncing his knee she laughed softly. He looked over at her, confused. "What?"

"You're so adorable when you're this excited," she said with a smirk.

"I am not excited or adorable," he protested, but still, his knee kept bouncing anxiously and he kept looking back at the stage.

"You are too. Just admit it, you can't wait until your favorite band makes an entrance. It's something anyone would be excited about," she said with a smile.

He looked over at her and then sighed dejectedly. "Okay, so maybe I'm a little excited..."

She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "And that's perfectly normal."

He looked at her and then at the hand on her shoulder, which was sending shivers down his spine, but didn't say anything. She took the hint and pulled her hand away, the smile on her face slowly disappearing. "So..."

They were interrupted by the opening band coming on stage. A few people started cheering, but for the most part no one really knew who they were. The noise gave Ryan a chance to get his thoughts about Marissa straight. She was his friend, that was it. She had lied to him, she had misused his trust and used him. He was mad at her.

He couldn't help but wonder, then, why one touch from her had him completely confused.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later on when Journey came out, Ryan clapped and even cheered a little bit. He looked over at Marissa and saw she was looking at him more than the band. He paused from his cheering and their eyes connected, making everything else in the world fall away. Then in the background he heard the song, 'Faithfully' begin to play and he looked back at the stage to see the band now performing their first song of the night. He nodded along and softly sang with it, not wanting to belt the lyrics like some other people around him.

A few songs later and there was a weird buzz in the room, almost like everyone seemed to be a part of some large positive energy. The band was beginning to get hot and sweaty, and after all the standing and singing he had done, Ryan was getting kind of hot too. He looked over at Marissa to see she was lightly swaying to the music, obviously lost in the music. He smiled and then looked back at the band.

Towards the end of the night he was beginning to feel better towards Marissa. She hadn't tried to get close to him and let him enjoy the concert on his own. He finally decided to talk to her a little bit. He leaned in close to her ear and shouted, "How do you like the concert?!"

She smiled and leaned in close to his face. "It's great! Way better than I thought!"

He laughed and pretended to be hurt. "How could you not think it would be great?!"

She laughed and shrugged. After a few minutes they started playing 'Don't Stop Believin'.' She smiled widely and leaned in close to him. "It's our song." Her face was so close to his that he could feel her breath on his cheek and it was driving him crazy.

He turned his head so he was looking into her face and smiled softly, searching her eyes. "Yeah, I'm glad they're playing it."

She smiled and then reminded him, "This is kind of breaking our no less than a foot rule."

He stared at her for a long moment, the music blasting in the background. Finally he leaned in close to her ear and softly said, "Screw the rules. Real friends to make rules, they just go with the flow." He pulled back and studied her. The stage lights cast a sort of glow on her face and made her hair shine. He had seen her in a million different situations, but to him she had never been more beautiful than in that one moment her realized she was trying to respect him. He reached over and grabbed her hand loosely, not being bold enough to lace their fingers together.

And then they both turned to belted out the lyrics to 'their' song. Together.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So I'm thinking of starting something new after this story. Are you guys okay with that? I'll have all the information in the last post, but I just thought I'd let you know now what I'm planning on doing.

Individual replies:

Marissa Davis: haha, I love that scene too. I love it when they try to be friends, cause it's obvious they can't!

Ninpinpin: Yes, let's see.

Juzzy88: Yes, let's hope for the best.

Hopelesslyhalfhearted: Why thank you, I'm glad someone noticed. You need to get to posting cause school starts for me in less than a month, which means less internet time.

TheChic: Let's hope you're right..

hpfangurl12993: Of course it's impossible for them to be friends, but they don't know that yet!

Elly1: Ask and you shall receive...

oc_bunney: Well I'm glad you think so!

Elly: I guess maybe I was wrong. It seemed bad to me.

Kellybby: But they're so clueless as to how the other feels!

Bwunnies: Well thank you.