Special thanks to you know who ;p

When they tried to quietly sneak back into the house, they found the lights in the living room still on and Jodie and Serena were sitting on the couch watching a movie.

"Wow is Jodie really watching Gosford Park?" Alex asked with a smirk.

"I love this movie," Jodie narrowed her eyes and seemed like she was warning the blonde.

In response the girl leaned down and whispered in her ear, "What happened to it being a pretentious piece of shit?"

Serena looked at the two friends with curiosity. "What?"

Alex stood up and announced, "Serena doesn't like Shakira."

"What?!" Jodie nearly shrieked. She turned to Serena.

Serena widened her eyes at Alex and blurted out, "Alex listens to George Michael!"

A huge shit-eating grin passed over Jodie's face and she slowly turned to look at Alex.

"Okay, that's enough," Marissa started to push Alex toward the room they'd shared the previous night.

"You're never living this down Kelly!" Jodie called from the couch as Marissa kicked the door shut behind them.

They laid on the bed in the dark for a few minutes before Marissa spoke, "How are we going to do this?"

"Do what?" Alex asked, her eyes closed as Marissa stroked her hair.

"Am I going to come up here every weekend?" Marissa thought out loud, "Or are we going to alternate weekends? Or Monday, Wednesday, Fridays? Or Wednesday and the weekends?"

Alex let out a laugh and Marissa stopped talking, "This isn't a custody case. We can take it as we go. Make plans when we can. We'll work it out."

There was a pause and Alex felt Marissa snuggled more into her, "I'm going to miss you."

The blonde kissed Marissa's cheek, "I'm going to miss you too. But I'm only a short drive away."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go back Monday?" Marissa asked.

"What I want and what is right are two different things," Alex pulled the blanket over the two since Marissa opened the window earlier and the air outside was starting to get chilly.

"What do you want?" Marissa almost whispered again the skin of Alex's shoulder, before kissing the area.

After a sigh Alex let out, "I want you to say here, but you can't. You have school."

"I can drop out," Marissa offered, only half serious, "Get my GED and get a job."

"No," Alex said firmly, "I don't want my life for you. You deserve better."

"So do you," Marissa raised her hand to cup Alex's cheek. She drew Alex in for a tender lingering kiss. When the kiss ended Marissa laid her head right next to Alex's, "And someday you'll have better."

"My life can't get any better now that I have you back," Alex smiled into the dark.

Marissa giggled, "That was sweet. Cheesy, but sweet."

"It's what I do," Alex closed her eyes again and leaned against Marissa.

The next afternoon, Alex put Marissa's last suitcase in the trunk of her car.

"I don't want to go," Marissa leaned into Alex's back and rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder.

"Yes you do," Alex reached back and rubbed the back of the taller girl's hair before turning around, gently kissing her.

"Come with me?" Marissa asked.

"I am," Alex told her, "I'm following you to help you unload it because you batted those beautiful eyelashes of yours and suddenly I'll do whatever you want."

Marissa grinned smugly, "I meant, stay the night?"

"I have work tomorrow," Alex replied.

"Not until two," Marissa exaggeratedly batted her eyelashes, "Please?"

"Won't your mom have a problem with it?" Alex asked snaking her arms around Marissa's waist.

She slid her hands up Alex's arms before threading them together behind Alex's neck, "So?"

"So, I don't want to piss her off," Alex answered, "It's not a good way to get her to let you come here on the weekends."

Marissa bit her lip and held Alex's eyes, "Fine, we'll talk about it."

Before Alex could protest Marissa caught her lips.

"Get a room!" Jodie called from the front porch with Serena next to her.

"Be nice," Serena told Jodie as she descended the steps.

Marissa smiled at Serena and walked to the shorter brunette, "Thank you so much."

"Anytime," Serena warmly accepted the hug from Marissa.

"Bye Alex!" Jodie called, not moving off of the porch.

"I'm coming back," Alex raised her eyebrow at Jodie.

Jodie smirked, "I was saying bye to the badass Alex. Mushy and whipped Alex is back."

Alex rolled her eyes and got in the driver's seat of her Jeep while Marissa hugged Serena one last time before walking over to the Jeep. She stepped up on the runner and kissed Alex before getting into her car.

The drive to the Cooper-Nichol mansion was too short for both girls. Alex got out of her Jeep looking at it, "It's bigger than I remember."

Marissa opened her trunk and grabbed two suitcases. "Yeah."

Alex walked over to Marissa's car and opened the passenger's side to get more suitcases out. "Riss."

"Hmm?" Marissa asked, putting the suitcases she had down and walking over to where Alex was.

"What's this?" Alex asked picking up the box Marissa was supposed to give to Alex from her old apartment.

"Oh," Marissa added quietly, "Your old landlord told me to give that to you. That's how I found you."

Alex sorted through the box and laughed, "You're sneaky."

"I told you that before, you should have listened," Marissa smiled, relieved she wasn't in trouble with the blonde already.

Alex moved to box to her Jeep and picked up the suitcases she was getting before seeing the box.

They lugged the suitcases up the stairs, not seeing anyone else in the house, and when they got to her room, Marissa fell back on the bed after dropping the suitcases by the door.

"Are you going to unpack tonight?" Alex asked, sitting on the bed next to Marissa.

"No," Marissa replied, "That's a lot to unpack and I'm tired already."

"We made one trip up the stairs," Alex turned to look at the girl stretched out on the bed.

The brunette smiled, "A long, heavy trip."

Alex laughed, "Okay."

"Marissa is that you?" Julie's voice called as the clicking of heels got closer.

"Yeah," Marissa called back and looked over at Alex who looked a little panicked.

Julie materialized in the doorway and smiled when she saw Marissa, "I'm so glad you're home."

"Mhm," Marissa replied, uninterested in her mother's spiel.

The eldest Cooper surveyed Alex and added, "Hi Alex. How are you?"

"I'm okay," Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Good," Julie nodded, politely, "I expect you'll be spending the night."

"Yeah she is," Marissa answered before Alex could say otherwise.

Alex looked over at Marissa with wide eyes and Marissa just smiled back.

Julie's jaw clenched, but she knew there wasn't much she could do in this situation so she said, "Well let me know if you girls need anything. Goodnight." With that Julie left.

"I didn't say I was going to stay," Alex looked at Marissa.

"You know you are," Marissa confidently grinned.

Alex rolled her eyes and laid back on the bed, "I don't have anything to wear."

"Who says you have to wear anything?" Marissa's eyes sparkled.

The next morning the two girls got up together before Marissa had to go to school and got ready by way of a joint shower and picking out what the other would wear.

As they descended the stairs, Marissa took Alex's hand and smiled up at the blonde who was behind her. Alex couldn't help, but smile back as they continued their walk outside.

"I'm going to miss you," Marissa whined when they were in the driveway at their cars.

"I'm going to miss you too," Alex replied, "But I'll come see you this week or something. Maybe surprise you with lunch?"

The giddiness was evident on Marissa's face, "Sounds great." She kissed Alex.

"Mhm," Alex nodded, "So I'll see you…"

"This week," Marissa stated, leaving no room for discussion, "And I'm coming to your place this weekend."

Alex rested her forehead on Marissa's, "Okay. Call me tonight?"

"When I get out of school," Marissa corrected the blonde.

"Good."

"I don't need to go to school."

"Yes you do."

Marissa groaned. She kissed her girlfriend again, "I don't want you to leave."

Alex lightly traced the heart necklace Marissa was wearing, "I'm just a half hour away and you can call whenever you want."

"Fine," Marissa sighed, holding onto the material of the shirt she let Alex's borrow, at the blonde's shoulders.

"You need to go," Alex pulled Marissa's body against hers and momentarily reveled in the fact that their bodies fit together perfectly, in a way that felt more right than anything she'd ever felt.

"Fine," Marissa sighed again.

Alex softly kissed Marissa, "I'll see you sometime this week."

Marissa nodded kissed Alex again. "I love you."

"I love you too," the blonde echoed.

They kissed one last time before parting ways.

Alex checked her phone again as she sat on the couch after work. Marissa never called. Her battery was charged, she had a good signal, and her phone hadn't left her side since she left Newport. She was starting to think the whole thing wasn't going to work after all.

"Alex," Jodie said from the couch next to Serena, "Stop spazzing. She probably just had homework or something."

Alex nodded not completely believing Jodie, but wanting to.

A knock on the door, brought all the women's attention away from the movie they were watching. Jodie and Serena looked at Alex expectantly, because they were tangled up in each other and didn't want to move.

The blonde grabbed her phone and trudged to the door. Figuring it was the pizza they ordered earlier, Alex quickly flipped back the locks and opened the door. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Marissa asked with an amused smile.

"Well, yeah," A huge smile took residence on Alex's face, "What are you doing here?"

"You borrowed my shirt," Marissa deadpanned, "I came to get it back." She rested her hands on Alex's hips and kissed her.

"But I'm still wearing it," Alex replied glancing down at the green shirt she was still wearing.

Marissa grinned wickedly, "Well we'll just have to find a way to get that off of you."

"I'm sure you can think of something," Alex added before bringing her lips back to Marissa's.