Just so you guys know, I'm not the person who posted The Parent Trap on the OC boards but this story is inspired by it. So partial credit goes to her for a slim part of the idea. But this story is going to go in a completely different direction and I promise to keep things interesting. And the names that I chose, Ellie and Emma, are named after people I know. Oh and what happened to Ryan and Marissa's marriage will be explained in upcoming chapters.

Just to clear things up: Ryan and Emma live in New York, Marissa and Ellie live in LA. All are still alive and who's funeral Ryan and Emma are going to will be revealed in this chapter!

Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own 'em. Just like to mess with them. But don't worry, I'll put them back just as I found them.

Holly slapped a copy of the latest issue of the LA Sun onto Marissa's table, a disapproving look crossing her face. Marissa sighed as her eyes fell upon the cover. The picture was of Ellie and Scarlett, tequila shots in their hands, fingers of random, older guys creeping over the young girl's bodies. The caption above it read, "Model's Daughters Gone Wild." Marissa threw the magazine face down back onto the table with another sigh. Just another day in the life of Marissa Cooper with the impossible teenage daughter.

"You need to do something about this Marissa," her assistant Holly commented.

Marissa shook her head. Yet another failure as a mother to add to her impressive record with Ellie. "Can you track her down and get her over here immediately?" Marissa asked. Holly nodded and scurried off and Marissa fought the tears. Ellie was just so damn stubborn; so much like Ryan sometimes it was scary. Except for the drinking and partying, that she got from her mother.

Twenty minutes later the door to her dressing room opened and Ellie entered, all charming smiles and flirtatious eye batting. "Hey Mom," she cooed.

Marissa glared at her. "Cut the crap Ellie," she spat. Ellie dropped her phoney smile and glared back at her mother. "What the hell were you thinking," Marissa raged. "You could have been killed!"

"My god Mom! Do you think I'm stupid!" Ellie yelled back.

"Well when my sixteen-year old daughter gets drunk at a club with her best friend and ends up on the font cover of a tabloid magazine, what the hell am I supposed to think? Do you know what all your partying is doing to my career!"

Ellie gawked. "And there it is," Ellie said quietly. But the venom in her voice made up for the lack of volume. "It's always about you."

Marissa closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she noticed the nervous fidgeting Ellie was doing, the spaghetti strap camisole she was wearing was not enough to cover the bruises that Ellie herself had just noticed. She was crossing her arms across her chest, burying her purple wrists under her thin, tanned arms.

Marissa stood from her chair and approached her daughter. "What happened El?" she asked kindly, taking Ellie's hidden wrist into her hand.

But Ellie wrenched her hand out of her mother's grasp and stepped back, readjusting her sunglasses on the top of her head and fiddling with the strap on her Gucci bag.

"Don't," Ellie growled.

"Ellie … sweetie," Marissa countered, stepping towards her daughter who was shaking. Marissa couldn't tell if it was from anger or fear.

"Don't!" Ellie yelled louder, then dropped her voice to a hoarse, tear-filled whisper. "Don't pretend you care."

Marissa shuddered, the harshness of Ellie's words echoing in her brain. "This can't on Ellie," Marissa said quietly. "I can't deal with this right now."

Ellie took another step back, eyes welling with tears. She wiped her sweaty palms on her dark-wash True Religion jeans. "What are you saying?" Ellie sobbed.

"We need some time away from each other," Marissa whispered, flashbacks of what she had said to Ryan sixteen years ago running through her mind.

"Mom," Ellie whispered.

"There's a place that you can go to in New York. I looked into it last year when you were into all that stuff you shouldn't have been. You can stay with your Grandpa Jimmy until you're ready to come home."

Ellie shoved her sunglasses back onto her face. She would be damned if she let her mother see her cry. "So you're going to ship me off because you're too busy to deal with me yourself. Typical," she spat.

Marissa ground her teeth subconsciously, caught herself, then stopped. She wouldn't let Ellie get to her. She was the mother, the adult. It was her responsibility to take care of her daughter. Marissa watched a solitary tear slide it's way down Ellie's cheek from under her sunglasses and she took a step towards her. This time, Ellie didn't step away. "Oh Ellie," Marissa said, removing her daughter's sunglasses from her face. Ellie immediately put her hands to her face, sobbing into her palms.

"Baby," Marissa breathed out, her own tears spilling over the brim of her eyes. She gathered her daughter into her arms, cradling Ellie like she had Emma the last time she saw her. Ellie gasped, breathing in the familiar scent of her mother's expensive perfume and savouring the precious moment.

"Mom I'll be good! I promise," Ellie whispered into her mother's neck.

"Ellie I want to believe you. I really do honey. But we need this. You spend far too much time in the limelight. I think a nice quiet few months in New York is exactly what you need Ellie."

"LA is my home. The only other place I've ever lived is in Paris when I was at school there. But I love LA Mom! Beverly Hills is the only home I've ever known!"

Marissa pulled Ellie tighter to her. "I love you so much Ellie. But I need you to do this. I need you to get better."

Ellie sighed and pulled away, nodding. Marissa nodded too and brushed Ellie's years away with her thumb.

"I'll come with you to the airport," Marissa said. Ellie nodded and allowed her mothers arm to snake across her shoulders. "It'll be alright baby. It's all going to be alright."

New York

Emma remained seated in the black chair, face hidden behind the mask that she had created, then perfected. Her eyes were clouded over as she watched the guests of the funeral mill around, some watching as the casket was lowered into the ground, other's sobbing into the other's arms. Emma sighed. She didn't below here. She hardly even knew the man that had died. He was only a colleague of her fathers. But he had asked her to come with him, and she had obliged. They were always there for each other.

"Ready to go kiddo?" Ryan asked, standing above Emma with an understanding look on his face.

Emma nodded. Funeral's were depressing. They took a cab back to their apartment, and went up, Ryan's hand always on the small of Emma's back in a fatherly way.

"I'm sorry I made you come to that," he apologized.

"It's alright," Emma said.

"No it's not. I never should have made you come," Ryan countered.

"Dad … It's fine."

Emma knew that her dad always made far to big of a fuss about her. But honestly, she expected nothing less. It was just the two of them; if they didn't look out for each other, who would.

"I heard from Seth yesterday," Ryan said, walking into the kitchen, followed by Emma.

"What did he say?" she asked, tucking her dress under her and sitting on the barstool.

"He said that him and Summer are doing good. Reese and Hannah are good too."

"What about Grandma and Grandpa?" Emma asked.

Since moving out, the Cohen family had certainly grown. Seth and Summer had gotten married and had two kids. Reese, the older of the two, had just celebrated his seventeenth birthday three weeks earlier. Their daughter, Hannah, had just turned thirteen.

"Uncle Seth says they're bored in retirement," Ryan laughed, picturing Sandy and Kirsten lounging around the house and not knowing what to do with themselves.

"Ya that's what Grandma says too," Emma said, taking a bite out of a carrot Ryan had handed her.

"Oh ya? When did you talk to Grandma?" Ryan asked. Since Marissa and Ellie had left, Ryan had taken Emma to Newport every summer to spend time with their family. To her, Kirsten and Sandy were her grandparents, Seth and Summer her uncle and aunt, and Reese and Hannah her cousins. And that's the way they both liked it. And although Emma knew that they weren't her blood family, she loved them and to her and Ryan both, they would always be their family.

"Yesterday. I called her after I got home from school," Emma said.

Ryan smiled. He loved the way Emma adored her family.

"How is school going?" he asked, pulling up the stool beside her.

"It's good," Emma replied. "Well you know, as good as school can be," she laughed. Ryan smiled.

Every time he saw Emma smile, he couldn't help but see Marissa and think about Ellie. He had seen her face littered over the covers of magazines when he was out shopping; occasionally seeing Ellie as well and finding it overwhelming that she looked so much like Emma. Then he mentally hit himself. What could he expect? They were twins.

New York Airport

Ellie picked up her Louis Vitton bag from the luggage carrier and walked around the pickup section, looking for her Grandpa. Finally, she spotted him, a copy of the day's newspaper in his arms as he looked for his granddaughter. They spotted each other and closed the distance separating them, wrapping Ellie in a tight hug.

"How's my grandbaby?" he asked affectionately, hugging Ellie again.

"I'm good," Ellie replied automatically.

Jimmy gave her a knowing smile, understanding that she was lying.

"Grandpa do you think it would be ok if I went for a walk?" Ellie asked.

"Don't you want to drop off your stuff first pumpkin?" Jimmy asked.

"I meant after," Ellie said with a smile.

Jimmy grinned, guiding Ellie through the airport with a hand on her back. He had only seen her for five minutes and she was already trying to get rid of him. "Won't you get lost? Manhattan's a bug city you know."

"I've been her before Gramps. With Mom while she worked," Ellie smiled.

Jimmy laughed and nodded his head. "Alright kiddo. As long as you promise not to get into any trouble."

XXXXX

"Dad I think I'm going to go for a walk," Emma said to her father as she finished up the last of the snack Ryan had placed before them.

"Do you want some company?" he asked, wiping his face with a napkin.

"Actually I think I need some time alone," she said with a sad smile.

"Alright," Ryan replied. "Just don't go to far, take your phone, and be back by dinner."

Emma smiled and kissed her dads' cheek. "Love you," she said as she slid on her shoes and walked towards the door.

"Love you too," Ryan said.

XXXXX

Ellie walked down the sidewalks of Upper East Side Manhattan, taking in the large Central Park brownstones and tall, luxurious apartment buildings. She liked it in New York; like the trees and the noises and the taxis. She couldn't explain it, she just did. From farther down the street, she could see a girl who looked to be about the same age as her, black strapless dress blowing behind her in the chilly wind, long golden-blonde hair flying behind her.

Ellie's heart did a backflip. There was something familiar about her and she didn't know what. As they got closer together, Ellie's heart picked up pace. She didn't know it, but as did Emma's.

When they were about two feet apart, the both stopped, dumbfounded. It was as though they were staring into a mirror. They stared at each other another second before gulping, and wondering what to do.