9

150 years later, somewhere on Earth.

Alex and Amy had been travelling around the world together, hunting down vampires, for more than a century now. What had begun as an easy affair, had soon become a strong connection. The love that bound them together was so strong, they could not imagine a life without each other any longer. It had taken both of them by surprise – none of them had dared to hope to ever find a soul mate again.

But they had found each other and now spent their time making Earth a better place by getting rid of vicious vampires and occasionally also other criminals.

They met Victoria regularly, Alex often truly missed her. She had become something like a mother or an older sister to her.

During her mortal life, Alex had barely seen any other part of the planet apart from California. Now she had been practically everywhere – but she had never been in the O.C. again.

From time to time, she still thought back to her human life and remembered her time with Marissa. But time had eventually mended the wounds. Marissa, her friends, her family – they all had become barely more than a faint memory, and they had all died a long, long time ago.

But Alex was happy… She had found her place in life.

-

135 years earlier, New York City.

Marissa once again worked late into the night. The new summer collection was due the following week and as head-designer of a little, but very successful fashion-design firm, she was covered in work from head to toe.

It was near midnight when she finally left her office, and somewhat past midnight when she finally arrived home. She opened the door to the large apartment as quietly as possible and took off her jacket and shoes. Then she cautiously opened the door to her children's bedroom and tiptoed inside. She smiled down at her six-year-old daughter and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. 'Goodnight, honey," she whispered and then went over to the other bed, bearing her four-year-old son. She softly pulled his thumb out of his mouth and then, too, gave him a kiss.

Marissa tiptoed out of the room and into her own bedroom. She silently undressed and laid down on her side of the bed. The person occupying the other side stirred in her sleep and turned to face Marissa. Kate's eyes fluttered open and Marissa greeted her with a smile and a soft kiss on the lips. 'Sorry I'm so late again," she whispered to her wife.

Kate mumbled something incomprehensible and snuggled closer to Marissa.

'You know I can't be angry with you,' Kate said softly. 'But you're gonna have to make it up to the kids. Jimmy was really upset cause he wanted you to read him his bedtime story. And you're gonna have to think about something really special to do with Alex. She misses you.'

'Yeah, I miss them, too,' Marissa sighed. 'But the collection will be out next week, and then we'll all do something special the following weekend, alright?'

Kate responded with a kiss and Marissa smiled contently. She had a great job, a beautiful wife and two incredible children. What more could she ask for? Her youth had been extremely difficult with ups and many deep downs. But now she was truly happy… She had found her place in life.

-

This is how the story could have ended. A happy ending, where time did its magic and managed to heal even the deepest wounds. But this kind of ending would have required Alex and Marissa to each make the decision of moving on and leaving their painful pasts behind them. Once that decision was made, no problem, happy ending on its way. But were they able to make such a clean cut and begin a new life?

The answer, of course, is no.

So here we go, back to the presence.

The night was dark and starless. Alex and Marissa both lay in their beds, each snuggled up against more or less strangers – these strangers being the key to a new beginning, a new life. But what's a key worth if you don't want to open the door?

Nothing.

The next morning, still half asleep, Marissa felt the warmth of another body next to hers and smiled contently. She kept her eyes closed and simply enjoyed listening to the steady breathing of the girl beside her for a while.

Marissa yawned, her eyes still shut, and tried to remember what day it was. Did she have school today? Did Alex have work…? Alex…

And then the whole truth came crashing down on Marissa, crushing the peaceful imaginary world she had built up in her dreams.

Chills ran down her spine and she shivered. No…

Slowly she opened her eyes and turned to look at the sleeping, dark-haired girl beside her.

No…

Marissa suddenly felt sick and quickly got up and left the room.. After having emptied all contents of her stomach into the toilet, she went to the mirror over the sink and stared at her reflection. Her face was so pale, Marissa silently asked herself whether she was still alive. But she immediately answered that with a yes. The immense pain she was feeling had to mean she was still among the living.

For a few long minutes, she had truly thought that Alex was still alive. She had heard Kate's breathing and had been absolutely positive that it was Alex.

But it hadn't been.

Alex was dead.

Marissa's head began to spin, and she quickly held on to the sink with both hands for support. Still feeling dizzy, Marissa leant her head against the cool mirror.

Alex.

Just thinking her name gave Marissa's heart such a sting, as if someone had stabbed her in the chest and kept twisting the knife.

Alex.

Tears trickled down Marissa's cheek. She felt as if she was awaking from a dazing sleep. How had she even survived the last weeks?

Marissa took a few deep breaths and turned away from her reflection. After closing the bathroom door, Marissa undressed and stepped into the shower. As the cold water washed away her tears, she came to a decision. She could not go on like this. She would not go on like this.

She liked Kate, she really did. But she didn't love her. What would it have taken her to sleep with her last night? One more beer, maybe two?

A few minutes later, Marissa left the bathroom with a towel wrapped around herself tightly and headed for the bedroom. She was surprised to find it empty, but nevertheless quickly put on some fresh clothes.

She saw that Kate's handbag was still were she had left it the day before, so she went into the kitchen mentally preparing herself for the situation to come.

Kate was leaning against the counter, holding a mug of coffee in both her hands. A few strands of unkempt black hair hung into her face and though she looked a bit tired, she still looked horribly cute – a fact that didn't make things easier for Marissa.

"Hey," Kate said, smiling.

"Hey," Marissa replied, taking a deep breath.

Kate pointed at her coffee questioningly, but Marissa shook her head.

"No, thanks…" Marissa said, scratching at the remains of some nail polish on her left thumb nervously. "I…"

Kate slowly set down her mug. "You okay?"

"I- Yes!…No… I don't know." Marissa looked up to meet Kate's piercing glance. "Look, Kate, I'm sorry. I just can't… What happened yesterday…"

Kate stepped forward and took Marissa's hands in her own. "Hey. It's okay. We can take it slow. There's no need to rush anything. We can –"

"No," Marissa interrupted her and pulled her hands out of the other girl's grasp. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I- I still love Alex. And I will always love her. I'd only be lying to you and myself if I agreed on continuing this. Leave, please… I'm sorry," Marissa added as a whisper.

Kate tried to hide the hurt on her face but failed miserably. "It's okay. So, I-I'll just go then, I guess… Unless you want me to stay, and just hang out?" Marissa looked down at her feet and Kate nodded in defeat.

"Okay…" Kate's voice faltered and she cleared her throat before continuing. "So, if you, you know, change your mind, just give me a call, no matter if you want to be friends or more. I- Well, take care…"

"I'm so sorry," Marissa said, unshed tears shining in her eyes.

"It's okay," Kate said, but her voice was clearly stating that it was not at all okay. "I'll be fine. Just promise me you'll be okay, too?"

Marissa nodded slowly. Yes, she would be okay…

Kate smiled sadly and gave Marissa a quick peck on the cheek. Then she left the kitchen and a few moments later Marissa heard the front door close.

She sighed and went over to the counter. She drank the rest of Kate's coffee and then took a moment to get her thoughts in order.

Sighing, she looked around her rather messy kitchen and began to clean it up. After the room could be clearly identified as an actual kitchen again, Marissa turned to the other rooms and spent the rest of the morning tidying them one by one.

Around noon, after having eaten a very late breakfast, Marissa took the jeep and drove to the graveyard. Once she stood in front of Alex' grave, she put a single red rose onto the earth in front of the tombstone. Slowly, her fingers traced the words engraved into the cold marble stone. Alexandra Kelly. She felt the name beneath her fingers, in her mind, in her heart.

She sat down on the grass, leaning back against the gravestone.

"Hey Alex," Marissa said softly, looking up at the sky. "Sorry I haven't been here in some time. I could say I didn't have the time – but that would be a lie. And a long time ago, I learned that lying to Alex Kelly isn't a good thing. God, do you remember when I lied to you about the whole mall thing? That's when we started to fall apart… But let's not think about that now. Let's remember the good times we had. Remember when you first asked me what I wanted from you?" Marissa laughed softly and closed her eyes to fully enjoy the memories. "I was so scared – and totally in love with you. And then later that day, I came over to the Bait Shop and we held hands. We didn't even kiss that evening – but I was totally in heaven."

Marissa blinked away a few lonely tears and leant her cheek against the cool tombstone.

"Oh Alex. Why did you have to leave me? Now you're in heaven and I'm stuck here all alone. I never knew you to be so selfish." Marissa smiled sadly. "I miss you," she whispered. "But we'll see each other again… soon."

Marissa continued sitting there for some time, in silence.

Later, around 3 o'clock, she met with Summer and they had some lunch together. She didn't tell her of what had happened with Kate. She didn't mention their make-out-session, neither did she mention their break-up. She made Summer think that she was meeting Kate later.

Summer wasn't sure what to make of Marissa's mood. On the one hand she seemed quite cheerful… But on the other hand there seemed to be something else, an emotion which Marissa was trying to hide. When she asked her best friend if she was okay, Marissa smiled and said she was perfectly well. Summer wasn't fully convinced, but finally decided to let it go and enjoy Marissa's cheerfulness.

After lunch, they walked around the town, chatting, for another two hours. Summer then went off to meet with Seth and Marissa headed for the beach. She sat down on the spot where Alex and her had shared their first kiss. She remembered how it had been to feel Alex's soft lips on her own for the first time… how it had felt to kiss another girl for the very first time.

The tide just changed. The words Alex had spoken seemingly so long ago echoed in her head.

Marissa stared at the endless ocean before her and smiled. She allowed herself to reminisce and once again found peace and solace in her memories. She was now sure she had taken the right decision – and she would put it into action tonight.

A soft cool breeze tickled her face and although she was staring out at the ocean, she didn't notice that the tide had just changed.

A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews! Every single one means a lot to me. : )

Susie: for some reason the link doesn't work for me… I copied it into my browser several times and I even tried it with firefox, but I jut got the message 'server not found'… : ( but thank you anyways.

My six weeks of summer vacation begin on Tuesday! yay! I won't be home, but I hope I'll still manage to update during that time.

For all of you that have a dark sense of humour: type 'lenore' into youtube and check out the short animation clips… they're so great XD… but beware: very dark humour…

Well, so, thanks for reading… And I'll just stop the rambling and continue writing chapter 10 now! : )