Summary: Seth and Marissa on the docks. Post season one, but not filled with much of season two, except that Ryan/Marissa and Summer/Seth had been reunited. The story takes place late summer, just after Summer's mother (real mom) has died, and a few weeks before their senior year. This is a one acter. Also note that Ryan is the father of Theresa's baby. This is known fact in the story.

Story Notes: This is a one off, which may become part of a series of interconnected one off's. Wait, can one off's be interconnected? This is distinctively a Seth/Marissa act. And if I continue on as a series, other stories will mostly be Seth/Marissa one acts. Take from them what you will. Whether it is friendship, romance, or soul mate like chemistry. I leave it up to you the reader to decipher.

Disclaimer: Natterjack (from FanForum and under a like alias on is the queen of witty disclaimers. So I won't even try to live up. I own nothing of value. Not our house (apartment), not our car (it's the banks), and no, not even the characters of The O.C. (They belong to some guy named Josh Schwartz). But I do own my fingers, and this computer I am typing on, and the words in my head which flow through my fingers and on to this screen. Yup, I own all of that. So in other words, don't steal my ideas!

Rating: It's as clean as they come. But I think I have a swear or two.

Oh, review, review, review. I can only improve when you tell me what's wrong.

------------

Around the corner came a familiar voice.

"Hey."

"Hey," Marissa replied back.

"You look pretty down and out. Did the Star Wars sequel bum you out?"

Seth sighed and tried to present a smile, but instead it was nothing more than a shallow grin.

"You don't look so grand yourself. Wardrobe malfunction at the latest charity fashion show," Seth said trying to make conversation to compensate for their sombre faces.

"If only life was boiled down to the tragedies we experience at Newport Social Events."

"Last I checked that included fraud charges, money laundering, affairs, porn tapes and the list continues," he said adding weight to Marissa's words.

"So tell me, what's going on?"

"You want to listen, to me?"

There was hint of surprise in her voice. She wondered why Seth would waste his time placing his small ass beside her and lending an ear to her words. In a matter of seconds the answer became clear.

"I have nothing better to do," Seth replied.

"Oh, well, it's nothing. Why don't you tell me what's got you so frowned."

"Not until you tell me why you look like the family pet died. Was it the horse or Katlin, " Seth said trying to convey some humour.

Marissa let out a small laugh and showcased what could have been passed off as a smile.

"The deal is we tell each other. Not one with out the other. We're in this conversation together. We shall share are problems, shall lay our cards on the table. We, we, we should stop making metaphors," Seth said.

Marissa turned to the wind letting the cold, bitter, breeze hit her face. She found herself lost for a moment, staring out into the vast ocean. Seth was without words. There was nothing more he could do but watch her as she lost herself in the ocean's waves and the airs harshness. He felt awkward as he watched in on her personal feelings. He knew she was reeling inside and he had no clue how to bring her back to him and their conversation.

"Seriously, you can tell me anything," he said as he reached out to the cold hand that she rested on her lap.

"I know this is a little strange, letting our guard down in front of each other. But really, behind the geekness I'm really harmless and no different then you. I think."

Marissa slipped away her hand from under Seth's grasp and she whipped away the water that was forming in her eyes.

"It's, it's Ryan," she said, her voice broken.

"Did he hurt you? Is it Theresa? The baby?"

Marissa was shocked to hear Seth's words of concern, especially while she assumed he would take a sympathetic tone towards Ryan, his best friend.

"No, Ryan, he could never intentionally hurt me. But my heart is broken non-the-less. I'm in mourning Seth. I know I've lost him for good."

"Why would you even think that? Ryan, he loves you. I know it 's true. He may not say it enough, but you look into his eyes. It's there."

"Love sometimes, is just not enough. Maybe it's never enough."

Seth sighs and shrugs his shoulders.

"Marissa, I must say you are surprisingly wise."

Marissa is far too lost in her thoughts to decipher whether Seth was being cocky or relating her words to his own pain.

"Me and Ryan, we threw in the towel this morning. I went to the Pool House, pretending it was just another morning, another day. I had been doing it for so long that it was a formula for me, you know? But as soon as I stepped through the doors I could sense the distance between us. It was stronger than ever before. I paused as he came to me out of habit. I looked away and he questioned what was wrong, as if he didn't know. He saw the hurt in my eyes and tried to embrace me, but I stepped back. He said something about how he wanted to be here for me, but I needed to open up to him now, as he had to be in Chino this afternoon."

"For Theresa and the baby?"

"Yeah."

"God Seth, I knew he loved me and didn't want to see me break in front of him, but of course he had to worry about Theresa and the baby. He always does. And I don't for a second blame him. But I can't be on the sidelines any more, and I can't be a reason why he couldn't give his full attention to his son and the mother of his child."

"I barely had to say a word you know? I was just like him in that moment. My face said it all. And he could sense what I was feeling, what my head and heart were saying on the inside, that this had to be over between us. In silence we just held each other. He barely protested and I barely cried, that was until I got home. I tried to stay strong, but when the eyes were not on me I broke down. My fragile existence broke into a million pieces. But Julie, God my mom, she just came at the worst time possible. She hounded me about so many pointless things. The charity guild; Luke coming into to town to visit; what dress I would wear to Summer's mother's memorial service. I had no energy to explode in front of her. I don't even think I said one word back to her. I just walked away, leaving her in the shadows on Caleb's house."

Seth had clung to every word, but was unsure how to present himself. He felt connected with her emotions, but yet estranged from her presence. Slowly his eyes, which peered to the ground, shifted towards Marissa's knees. Without a conscious thought in his mind his hand once again met hers. It was his only physical connection. His mouth could not move. Words were not formulating in his head.

Marissa, second by second, shifted her head in the direction of Seth's hand. She was surprised, but too disconnected from reality to process what it physically felt like to feel Seth's hand with hers. Her head gracefully came up to meet with Seth's sulked head and for a split second their eyes locked.

"Now that I may have revealed more to you than I have to Sharebear, tell me Seth, what weighs heavy on your mind today?"

Her words were with an unintentional lack of concern for Seth. She merely wanted to turn the tables and allow Seth to take the spotlight of the lonely and broken hearted.

"You're going to think I'm so cold and cruel when I say this, " Seth said with a hint of guilt in his voice.

"Why?"

Seth paused before mustering up the courage to speak.

"I, I broke up with Summer, now, when she needed me the most."

"You broke up with Summer?"

"Yup, just after her mother died, I laid it on her. I told her everything I was feeling and how her love wasn't one of those things. She pretty much cried, had a few rage blackouts and said I was being a selfish asshole."

"Hmm that thought kind of came to my mind too."

"I knew you'd hate me."

"Oh no, I don't hate you. I just think you're a selfish asshole, just like Summer said. We all have our faults," Marissa said with a half smile.

"See, you don't understand. Her mother's death was weighing on me, how she was so ill through the summer months and Summer never told me. She lied Marissa. She could of had me as her knight in shinning armour. She could of had me as her great sounding board. But instead she feeds me these concocted stories and runs away to be by her Mother's side, without me!"

"Yeah but you of all people should understand her actions. The emotions she was feeling. Remember you, Ryan, the boat, Portland?"

"Yeah I know. But I felt we moved on and grown up. She told me after my grandfather died that she would be there for me. We had dropped all signs of being selfish and holding a bias towards our own needs. It was so strange, yet it made our relationship so alive. Little did I know she was holding back her own feelings about her mother's illness."

"Do you know, that when I confronted her about it, she told me it was none of my business and that I should just back off from her and the family? She came to me soon after her mother was only days away from death and apologized, said she needed me now more than ever, how she couldn't get through this without me. But it was more of the same. It was all on her terms and when she needed me. Don't get me wrong; I fully understood I was the same way when it came down to it. We were no different than each other in that regard. But what kind of relationship is that? How much longer does it go on before becoming almost sadomasochistic? For my own sanity and the future of hers I had to end it. Maybe not in the way I did, but I just couldn't go one more second living out this fantasy that never even existed."

The breeze off the water got colder and colder as each minute passed. By now Seth had turned into Marissa, his hands resting on her knees. She remained just as unconnected with his presence as he had, but she made sure to keep her eyes on him. Deep inside her she felt strangely alive, knowing that Seth felt her feelings and related to her emotions, but she still had a hard time getting passed the awkwardness of their tender, personal, revelations being revealed to each other.

"It's strange don't you think, that we are so alike at this moment," Marissa muttered under her breath.

Seth's eyes peered away from the ocean and back to Marissa who was locking her eyes on his upper body. Seth was surprised to see that she had watched his moves and the emotions on his face.

"Just tell me how we got so lost in these dreams, these fantasies of ours? We should of known the day we became teenaged adults that dreams can't be realized, they'll only let us down in the end," Seth said.

"I don't know. I'm still holding out for Paris."

Seth sighed.

"Yeah, actually I'm kind of holding out for America. I still believe in Kerouac. If not to believe in love at least to believe in Kerouac," he said.

"Pancakes, the empty road, more pancakes, and a Julieless..."

"Water polo teamless..."

"... high societyless existence. It sounds so good to me."

"It sounds good to me too. But at this time there is no escaping our roles here in Newport. That's just the facts Marissa. I may have given up on love and Summer and all that. But my mother needs me. And, yes Ryan needs me too. I couldn't just leave him behind at a time like this. I just hope he doesn't expect me to baby sit," Seth added in.

"I don't mind it so much. I used to watch Katlin all the time. You should beckon me as your saviour. You know, when he pees in your lap and uses your comics as a teething toy."

A wave of shock comes over him. He has a hint of nerves too.

"Remind me to lock up my X-Men one through twenty's."

His back turned against the wind and he looked out on to the ocean., his feet hanging over the edge of the dock.

"But you know, I just may have to take you up on that offer."

Seth turns his head towards Marissa. The two of them smile in almost equal timing.

"We should definitely do this talking thing more often. It's oddly therapeutic," Marissa said.

"Yeah, it is. And here I thought us exchanging words coincided with the drama adding on to our lives. Who knew we could actually lift it."

"Well I don't know if I'm there yet, but I could be getting closer."

"Yeah?"

Seth smiles again.

"Yeah."

Marissa returned his childlike grin with one of her own.

In the moments that followed words were not exchanged, yet something had changed between them. The awkwardness had passed. They had grown into each other and embraced more than just the feelings and emotions. They embraced the physical. They embraced each other as a actual person. Seth as Seth and Marissa as Marissa.

Marissa looked over to Seth who remained fixed on the ocean. Her hand consciously slid over to the direction of Seth's hand that laid on the rough wood of the dock. She wanted to show him comfort, to show him she was by his side and was connected to him, heart, body and mind.

Her hand was a comfort to Seth. He felt more at ease. But the silence wore on him and with each second of words not exchanged he got lost in his thoughts of Summer and how he had just let her go, no matter how right his intentions were. He already missed her touch, the beauty of her smile, and even the rage of her blackouts. They were, after all, out of love. But for some reason, as Marissa's hand continued to touch his and even go so far as to interlock, his mind, his heart, his body, was partially brought back to Marissa.

He could not bring himself to fully let go off his thoughts though. But he knew it was likely the same for Marissa. As he sat there beside her Seth flinched for a second. His body turned into Marissa's and he drew himself close to her skin and soft, sequenced, top. Before she could react, or say anything, he positioned his head on her shoulder.

It wouldn't get more vulnerable than this. For a moment he tried to hold in his emotions, and put his focus on the waves crashing against the rocks under the docks, and the splash of cold water that came up against the bottom of his jeans, but he could for only so long. Trying his best to not choke up or make any noises he shed silent tears. But the tears built up and there was nothing of his own force that could hold him back from crying.

Marissa clung to his hand, as if holding on for her life. She could of easily lost her self in her own tears. But, she had already done that and been there. She had no energy left to shed tears of her own. Instead she focused the last of her strength on Seth making sure her body remained still so he could use it. Although she felt his pain and connected with his vulnerable embrace, she couldn't look straight into his eyes as the tears trickled down his face. She hoped it was enough, just for her to be his greatest sounding board and a place to shed his tears.

As the water streaming from his eyes began to fade, he closed his eyes and melted into the warmth of her body resting for as long as he could get away with. Marissa fixed her eyes on the calming tide which was beginning to lower. The waves became close to silent and the wind was barely breaking against her face now. The surroundings had changed, perhaps to go along with the changes that were happening between them. But of course it had to be unintentional Marissa thought to herself.

The skies were darkening before them. Still, they remained in the same position, Seth's eyes and face still wet, but not procuring new tears. They certainly wouldn't be locked in this moment and embrace forever. This was not how their evening would end. But there was currently a comfort, a bit of protection and even a unique form of perfection from this moment in time. It was neither definable nor vague, neither a mask for their pain or a direct cure. It just was.