Okay, here it is, the second chapter. Enjoy, and review!

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Marissa knocked on Summer's door impatiently. "Come on, Sum, I really need to talk!" She looked down at her watch. 11:30am. She knocked twice more. "Please! It's eleven thirty already!"

Finally, the door opened, revealing a pajama clad Summer, and the faint sounds of the TV on. "This had better be good, Coop," said the tiny brunette as she stood aside to let Marissa in. "I was having a mid morning Valley marathon."

Marissa sighed, sitting down on the bed. "Oh, it's good. Or, at least it is for Seth, I guess."

Summer's eyes widened a bit as she joined her friend on the bed. "This is about Cohen? Ooh, spill, what did he get me for my birthday?"

Marissa rolled her eyes. "No, it isn't about Seth."

"Oh... Is it Ryan? Are you guys still having that rough patch?"

"No, it's not about him, even though we are still having issues," sighed Marissa. "Well, actually, it's about... Alex."

Summer bit her lip, clearly trying to place the name. "Um... Alex? Alex who?"

Marissa sighed again. "Oh, you know, Sum. Alex. Remember? Worked at the Bait Shop? Blonde hair with a purple streak and tattoos?"

"Oh," said Summer slowly, her mouth open slightly. "Wait, Seth's Alex?"

"Mhmm."

"Girl Alex?"

Marissa laughed. "Wow, this is sounding kind of familiar." Then Summer smacked her on the arm. "Ow! What was that for?"

Summer looked livid. "What do you mean 'what was that for'? You're cheating on Ryan with Alex?"

Marissa's eyes widened. "What? No! I'm not cheating on Ryan at all! Nothing has happened with Alex, Sum."

"Oh," said Summer again, visibly calming down now. "Wait- nothing has happened with Alex? Does that mean she's back?"

Leaning back on Summer's pillows, Marissa stared up at the ceiling. "Yeah. She's back."

"Oh, my god," said Summer. "Why?"

"She got kidnapped."

"What?"

Marissa sat up again, worry etched in her features. "I know! It's so unbelievable. Seth and I found her locked in the back of a car, Summer. Someone just left her there to die." She buried her face in her hands. "I just can't believe it. I mean, I know that I ended it, and I chose Ryan, but-" she broke off, and looked up at her friend. "I still care about her. And I was so scared."

Summer wrapped her arm around Marissa's shoulder. "Oh, my god, Coop," she said softly, shocked disbelief lining her voice. "Someone tried to kill her? Why?"

"She thinks it was her drug addict ex boyfriend. He thought she turned him into the police, so he had his friend stuff her in the back of a car last night."

"Oh my god," Summer repeated. "Is she okay?"

Marissa nodded. "She's staying at Seth's. We're trying to track down the guy who did this with the license plate from the car. I think Seth's going to try and get Sandy to help too."

Summer frowned. "She's staying at Seth's? In his room?"

"Relax," said Marissa, smiling. "Seth's over her. He's probably bending her ear about you right now."

Summer nodded, and then looked at Marissa warily. "Okay, Seth's over her. But are you? I know you still care about her, and you should, she's a nice girl. But you know what I mean. Are you over her?"

Marissa took a deep breath. "I... I think so. I mean, I really love Ryan, I know that, even if we are fighting right now. But Alex... well, she was always different, you know?"

Summer snickered. "Yeah, she certainly is different than Ryan."

"Oh shut up," said Marissa, elbowing Summer in the ribs. "Yeah, yeah I dated a girl, very funny. But seriously, am I over her?" She looked uncertainly at her friend. "I honestly don't know."

Summer bit her lip. "Well, then," she said. "Maybe it's not a good idea to tell Ryan about her, yet."

"My thoughts exactly," said Marissa. "He was out last night, so he hasn't seen her yet, but he'll probably be back this afternoon sometime."

Summer stood up. "Okay, then we need to get over to Cohen's house and get her out of there. We don't need any Ryan-Alex confrontations."

Marissa stood up, too, and headed for the door. "Absolutely," she agreed. "I've had enough of those to last a lifetime."

Fifteen minutes later, they were on the Cohen's front step, ringing the doorbell. Seth came to the door almost immediately. "You told Summer?" he asked Marissa as he opened it.

"Obviously!" said Summer, rolling her eyes. "I'm here, aren't I? Can we come in?"

Seth stood aside, and the two girls stepped in. Hearing noises from the kitchen, they headed that way. As they entered the room, Seth walking along behind them, they were greeted by the sight of Alex, Sandy, and Kirsten, all sitting around the kitchen table. Seth announced their presence. "Company's here!" he said, with the air of a salesman revealing a new car.

Alex looked up first, and her eyes met Marissa's. A strange, floaty sensation jolted Marissa's stomach, and she quickly looked away. Think of Ryan, she thought furiously. You love Ryan. She walked toward the counter, and leaned against it. Mustering her self control, she then looked back at Alex. The blonde was still looking at her, the purple streak in her hair tucked behind her ear, her invigorating blue eyes probing into Marissa's. She swallowed slowly. Alex always had a way of making her feel like she was under some sort of inspection. Ryan, she reminded herself sharply. She forced thoughts of her boyfriend into her head, and the floaty feeling Alex was giving her lessened a bit. There, that wasn't so bad, she thought glumly. Then she looked out the window. Speaking of Ryan, was he home yet? Was there still time to get Alex out of here?

Summer asked the question before she could. "So where's Ryan? In the pool house?"

Kirsten shook her head. "He's out. His new job sometimes gives him the midnight to noon shift. He'll be back in a half hour, maybe."

Summer and Marissa exchanged a quick glance. In the car, they had agreed the best place for Alex to stay would be Summer's house, seeing as if she stayed with Marissa it would make a difficult situation even more difficult. Summer quickly turned to Alex. "Um, hey," she said cheerily. "You know, me and you never really got to hang out! We should totally get some pancakes or something."

Judging by the fact that a flood of relief rushed over Alex's face at these words, Marissa was sure that the blonde girl was also aware a reunion with Ryan would not be a good idea. She stood up quickly. "Good idea," she said.

Marissa cleared her throat. "Uh, Summer, if you want to spend some more time with Alex, maybe she could stay with you. I know that Seth is probably busy with like, artwork or something."

Seth frowned a bit, and then he caught on. "Ohh... right," he said. "I'm really... busy. Drawings, you know. And, uh, video games."

"Right," said Alex. "Good idea. Want to get going, Summer?" She glanced at the clock. Wow, thought Marissa. She really doesn't want to run into Ryan.

Summer nodded. "Sure. We'll walk down to the pier now." She turned to the rest of the room and waved. "See you later!"

Alex looked at Sandy. "You'll let me know if you get any breakthroughs?"

Sandy nodded, looking a little caught off guard at Alex's sudden desire to leave the house. "Um, yes. As soon as I hear anything from the police, I'll give you a call."

Alex nodded, and she and Summer quickly left the house. And then Sandy immediately looked at Seth and Marissa. "Okay, what the hell was that all about?"

Kirsten stared at them as well. "I have never seen anyone so eager to leave this house, and I'm including Sandy's mother."

Marissa took a deep breath. She had been hoping to avoid going into the details with Seth's parents, but she supposed she and Summer's evacuation plan was pretty obvious. "Um, well, Alex doesn't really like Ryan all that much.

Seth snorted. "That's a bit of an understatement."

Sandy nodded slowly. "Ah... Ryan. That makes sense; she bolted like that because he'll be home soon."

Kirsten frowned. "But why would she hate Ryan?"

Marissa blinked. Sandy and Kirsten didn't know about her history with Alex? She looked at Seth, who shrugged. Hmm. She had just assumed that they had needed some reminding about why Alex would want to avoid Ryan, not that they had no idea. She turned back to Kirsten. "Well," she started, "Do you remember two years ago, when Seth and Alex broke up?"

Kirsten nodded. "I never forget one of Seth's breakups. The angst level in the house just shoots up."

Marissa smiled a bit. "Right. Well, after Alex broke up with Seth, uh, she and I started hanging out a lot."

Sandy frowned. "And she didn't like Ryan?"

"No, Dad, Ryan wasn't even in the picture," Seth said, grinning.

Marissa elbowed Seth in the ribs. "Do you want to tell the story?"

Seth grinned wider. "Yes."

Rolling her eyes, Marissa ignored him. "Anyway, when me and Alex were hanging out, um, well, one thing led to another, and... we started dating. And we broke up because of Ryan."

Sandy's mouth dropped open. Clearly, whatever he had been expecting, it was not that. Kirsten on the other hand, looked like she had just remembered something important. "Oh," she said, her eyes wide. "Julie told me something along those lines... just not who the girl had been." She looked at Marissa, and then at her son. "It was Seth's ex girlfriend?"

Marissa shrugged. Seth just kept grinning. And Sandy finally found his tongue. "Well," he said. "I guess it makes sense that she wouldn't want to see Ryan then." He ran a hand through his hair. "So she'll be staying at Summer's?"

"Yeah. I mean, she can't stay with me, for obvious reasons," said Marissa, without thinking.

Sandy looked at her a bit strangely, and Kirsten raised an eyebrow. "What obvious reasons?" she asked. "She stayed here with Seth, and they dated and broke up as well."

Oh, crap, thought Marissa. "Um," she said lamely.

But just then, Seth came to her rescue. "Mom, Julie Cooper lives in that house," he said, raising an eyebrow at his mother. "Plus, Marissa's dating Ryan, he drops by her place often enough Alex would have to deal with him."

Kirsten nodded. "That makes sense." Marissa was relieved to see she looked placated.

Sandy continued to look a bit skeptical, but he also let it go. "Alright," he said. "Well, Alex lost her cell phone at some point during the kidnap, so I'll be calling Summer as soon as I get some information. For now, I guess all we have to do is wait."

Seth nodded. "Right. Hey Marissa, I figured out what to get Summer for her birthday. Want to come with me to pick it up?"

Marissa shrugged. "Sure." It's about time he figured something out, she thought.

But as soon as they stepped out the front door, Seth rounded on her, his eyes wide. "You still like her? Why didn't you tell me?"

"What?" asked Marissa, shocked. "What are you talking about?"

Seth rolled his eyes. "'She can't stay with me for obvious reasons,'" he mimicked in a high pitched voice. "Like you were thinking about your mom when you said that. You obviously still like Alex."

Marissa sighed. "Listen, Seth, I just don't know what I feel right now," she said. "I need some time to figure this out."

Seth was still frowning at her. "What about Ryan?"

Marissa gave him an exasperated look. "Honestly? I'm just trying to keep him out of all of this. I still love him, but we are kind of on the outs right now, and with Alex here..." She trailed off with a sigh.

Seth's look softened. "Well as long as you don't forget about him completely." He started walking toward Marissa's car. "Still want to go pick up my present with me?"

Marissa nodded, and gratefully slid into the driver's seat. After about a minute of driving along in silence, Seth cleared his throat. "So, you and Ryan are still having problems? I thought you were sorting that out."

"Well," Marissa started hesitantly, "I mean, we're trying to sort it out. It's just that ever since Lindsay left, he seems like a different person. And he keeps telling me that it was two years ago, and he's totally over it by now, but somehow I can't completely believe it." She shook her head sadly. "It still just feels like I'm the second choice. She left, and now he's back to me."

Seth was silent for a moment. "He really loves you," he said, after a pause. "He's always talking about you, and believe me, that's saying something. The guy used to never talk."

Marissa smiled as she pulled onto the road near the pier. "Yeah, I know."

They pulled into a parking space near an antique store down the road from the Bait Shop. Getting out, Marissa shot Seth a quizzical look. An antique store? Did he know Summer at all? But Seth just waved a hand at her, and walked into the tiny shop. Sighing, she followed him.

The shop was full of all sorts of stuff she recognized from fancy Newport auctions she had attended with her mom at several points during her childhood. Noble looking arm chairs, prestigious silverware, and expensive looking china cabinets filled every corner. Looking supremely out of place, Seth strode to the middle of the shop, and grinned as he looked at an ornate full length frame leaning against the wall. Marissa gaped at it. It was almost as tall as she was. "You're going to get Summer a frame?" she asked Seth dubiously.

He clucked his tongue at her condescendingly. "Now, now, Marissa," he said as he made his way toward the shop owner, who was sitting behind the register. "You stick to planning Summer a Newport-worthy birthday bash, and I will stick to getting her swoon-worthy birthday presents." He addressed the sleepy looking shop owner with a grin on his face. "How much for the big frame?"

Marissa watched him buy the antique frame with a bemused look on her face. When the owner had finally packed it up in a very large box, Seth stared at her expectantly. "Alright, Cosmo Girl. Time to help me get this into the car. Now, I realize Ryan would probably be better at the whole heavy lifting thing, but you are at least taller than me, so..."

Marissa stared right back at him. "You know, Seth," she said, shaking her head and moving toward the large box to help lift it. "You really have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

Seth raised an eyebrow at her before moving to help her get the box out to the car. "Funny, I could say the exact same thing about you."

Marissa sighed, lifting the right side of the frame up with a gargantuan effort, and thinking sadly that Seth was probably right about that.

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