Alex left thinking Marissa didn't love her. Few years later they meet again, they have to work in the same place in LA. Marissa is now engaged to Ryan. Alex goes for the get some, get gone routine. Appearances from old friends and new ones.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to ladysmirnoff, Seventh Theory, WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, bigblusky, The Night Life 13, drumstiix, Babydyke79 for the reviews. Also thanks to andygirl007 for the help in the chapter.

ladysmirnoff, courage to say something? it will happen, nowhere near though...

WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, you hadn't mentiononed your last name, but thanks for the support on before and now, and for being so understanding. i hope you like this one.

The Night Life 13, wow, i'm glad you liked it so much. 'cause i can't read it that fast. mostly because after the 100th time i read it i dont want to anymore.

i would say sorry for the long wait, but i guess you are already tired of hearing it so lets just get to the story...

Chapter 24 - Julie Cooper-Nichol-Roberts

--

"Who is Trey?" Alex said, still holding the brunette, and felt her tense at the question.

"Trey?" Marissa repeated

"Yes, you said that he looked like Trey."

"Not physically, he just reminded me of him." The brunette replied avoiding the blonde's eyes.

"Why?"

"Don't know, he just did." Marissa said evasively

"Please don't lie to me. If you don't want to tell me, just say so."

"He's Ryan's brother. We don't get along that well." The mention of Marissa's soon to be husband hurt Alex, but she hid it. This night wasn't about her.

"Did he rape you?" The blonde asked bluntly, trying to contain her anger.

"NO!" Marissa answered, but she completed as an after thought. "He tried to."

Alex didn't question her anymore; she knew Marissa was emotionally exhausted. So instead of pressuring her, the blonde spent what felt like hours whispering soothing words by the brunette's ear, holding and caressing her. Marissa finally closed her eyes after many calming words from Alex, but the brunette's arm never left the blonde's belly, making sure she wouldn't move.

Alex, on the other hand, was still mad for what she considered was her fault. I shouldn't have let her stay alone. She wanted to find the guy and kill him. Also she wanted to kill Trey Atwood. Marissa hadn't said much about him, but from what she heard, the blonde couldn't understand how Ryan had let his brother still live, he had given Alex the impression that he was overprotective of the brunette.

That's when her phone rang.

"Hello" Alex said, answering it.

"Hi, who is it?"

"That's something you should know. Who were you calling?" The blonde answered suspiciously.

"I was calling my daughter, Alex." Julie answered, figuring out to who that phone belonged to. "Apparently someone stole her phone and this one was the one Summer gave me to talk to her."

It was true. Marissa had called Summer to tell her what had happened and the shorter girl had told her step mother what had happened.

"Julie Cooper." Alex stated, remembering the last conversation she had had with the woman.

"What are you doing here?" Julie asked, afraid that she had gotten caught watching the porn that she herself had starred.

"Looking for Marissa. She left a message that she was here." Alex stated, not really caring what the other woman had been doing. The blonde's only concern was her girlfriend.

She wanted the girl to be here, but she had a sinking feeling that she wouldn't find Marissa. Alex knew their relationship was falling apart, but she wasn't sure she could acknowledge it.

"Well she's not." Julie answered and Alex made a move to leave. "I guess I'm not the only one she lies to, huh?" Alex turned around, waiting for Julie to continue "I know my daughter, I only let her go with you because I knew it was a matter of time before she came back." The blonde couldn't hear this, she knew it was too close to the truth she wasn't willing to admit, so she looked away, trying to block out the older woman's words. "As much as Marissa likes to complain, she had a very nice life thanks to me. One she'll miss once the novelty wears off, which I'm guessing is about now."

"Marissa... Marissa's not happy." Alex said, looking at Julie, not being able to deny it.

"Marissa and happy parted ways about her sixteenth birthday, but have you met her new friends: Sullen and Vindictive?"

"No, the only ones she's brought over to the house are: Scared and Overwhelmed."

"Alex, I'm not saying this to be mean, because you actually seem like a nice enough girl and I like your pants,"Alex closed her eyes, she knew she wouldn't like what would come next "but you are this week's yard guy" Julie said with a sigh, and Alex looked at her, confused "Marissa's latest drama, weapon of torture to inflict against me."

"You don't know that." The blonde replied softly, shaking her head, trying to not let her voice break. She wasn't really successful.

"Yeah, honey, I do." Julie said, in the same tone. For some unknown reason, she felt sorry for the girl. "Marissa's only been in love once, and he looked a whole lot different in a wife beater."

Alex closed her eyes, lowering her head, and left.

"Yes. Can I talk to my daughter now?" The woman said, bringing Alex back to the present.

"Actually, she is asleep." Alex had to once again hold back tears as she remembered that conversation, just as she had done in the past, when it happened and several times later. That had been the day Alex realized that their relationship was doomed, that they wouldn't have a happy ending. And for some reason, that still hurt.

"Is she alright?"

"Yes, she is fine. Just a small cut in her neck, and the shock."

"Good. What about you? Were you hurt?" Alex was surprised by the question

"No. I had left to buy an ice cream when it happened. He had already left by the time I got to her."

"It wasn't your fault, Alex. And I'm glad you're alright." The blonde didn't know how to form an answer to that, so she let Julie continue. "But I'm sure you are tired from all of this, so I'll let you rest. Can you tell Marissa to call me once she wakes up? It doesn't matter what time it is."

"Yeah, sure."

"Thank you. And goodnight. Enjoy the rest of your trip."

"Okay. Goodnight." Even after the call got disconnected, Alex kept the phone to her ear, wondering if she had just imagined the entire conversation. Julie Cooper had seemed to actually care for the blonde's wellbeing.

Alex had been so focused on the fact that Julie had been nice to her that the blonde had not even considered the fact that the older women hadn't been surprised by the person that had answered the phone. Or that other then Summer, only Julie had tried to contact Marissa after the robbery.

--

Seth walked through the door knowing where to find his adopted brother. Ryan sat in the same stool in the same bar every time something bothered him. The blonde man had missed tonight's family dinner and Seth knew something was up.

"Hey man." The curly-haired man said, approaching his bother.

"Hi, Seth. Wanna a beer?" Ryan said as the other man sat on the stool next to his.

"Sure, why not?"

"Another two, please" The blonde man said to the bartender.

"So, Ryan, wanna tell me what's wrong?" Seth asked straight to the point as the bartender handed them their drinks

"Nothing, I'm just having a drink with my brother, right?"

"Right. If you are fine, then we can settle for my favorite pastime: talking about myself." Seth ignored Ryan's groan of protest. He was determined to find out what was bothering the blond, even if torture was needed, so he continued without taking much time to breath "So, you know me and Summer are trying to have a baby, but I'm not sure that I can be a good father. I mean, look at me, do you see me as a father? Doesn't matter because I don't see myself as an father, and Summer is so sure that I'll b like perfect but I can't be sure. I don't know anything about children, I mean, look at me, I'm still a child. I thought I would be old and responsible and any other thing that you should be once you are father."

"Seth, I'm sure you will learn in time." Ryan responded shortly as always.

"But what if I don't?"

"Then you can spend the next 70 years ruining your child's life. It's what most parents prefer to do anyway."

"That's helping." Seth stated sarcastically. "But while we are on this topic, mom was wondering why did you miss our family dinner tonight."

"I guess I had too much on my mind. I completely forgot about it."

"Marissa?" Taking a sip of his beer, Ryan had already finished his and asked for another.

"Did Summer tell you something?"

"No, actually she doesn't tell me anything that Marissa tells her anymore. Summer said I'll just take the information and report back to you. So what's wrong?"

"She called me only once ever since she left."

"But she hasn't been gone for long, just a few days. Besides she must be blown away by what she has been seeing. Give her some time."

"I know. But it's not just this trip, she has been pulling away from me ever since she got this job, maybe even before that."

"Ryan, it must be difficult to adjust. Different work hours, being the boss, telling everyone what to do. Let her get used to it. Things will sort itself out, I'm sure."

"I'm not"

--

"Good morning" The blonde said the moment she realized that Marissa opened her eyes

" 'ood morin'" The other girl responded

"Still not a morning person, I see."

"Hum hum" Marissa mumbled, closing her eyes

"Your mother called." That made the brunette open her eyes and shoot up in bed.

"You talked to my mom?" Marissa's eyes were now wide and she was completely awake.

"Yeah. Is there a problem?"

"No. It's just I hadn't told her about you." Alex didn't know what to feel after that admission. Am I so insignificant that Marissa doesn't remember telling people about me or am I her dirty little secret? "I'm sorry if she said something bad." Marissa continued.

"She was really nice, actually." Alex responded trying not to show how that had affected her.

"Are you sure you were talking to my mom?" Marissa asked smiling trying to lighten the mood, as she laid back down to the comfort of the blonde's arms, not realizing what was going on inside Alex's head.

"I'm pretty sure I was talking to Julie Cooper. That's your mom, right?" The blonde joked lightly, cuddling the brunette, as she tried to ignore her feelings.

"Actually, my mom is now Julie Cooper-Nichol-Roberts." The brunette replied closer to Alex's neck.

"I think I'll stick with Julie Cooper. But why are you so surprised? I mean, you said that the two of you had gotten closer, that she had gotten better. I'm the one that should be thinking that was weird." The blonde stated, as she instinctively started to draw small circles with her fingertips on the brunette's small back. Marissa was the only one that noticed.

"Yeah, better with me, closer to me. But I know my mom, and I know she can still be a bitch when she wants to."

"I guess she didn't want to be a bitch then."

"Guess so."

"Anyway, she told me to tell you to call her whenever you woke up."

"As much as I love my mom, I really don't want to deal with her right now." Marissa was reluctant to leave the comfort of Alex's arms.

"Anyway, how are you feeling?"

Marissa had to think before she answered that. She thought back to everything that lead to that morning, she thought how she felt lying in bed being held by the blonde and she came to one conclusion. "I'm still a little freaked out, but I think that other than that I'm great"

--

"So, are you ready?" The blonde asked, entering the room.

"Yeah." Marissa answered, closing her last bag. Alex had been done with hers for hours.

"Good, I already checked us out. The driver is waiting in the lobby to take us to the airport."

"Good. Where are we going anyway?"

"London." Alex answered, moving Marissa's bags closer to hers near the door so that the bellhop wouldn't forget any.

"Great." The brunette said, letting Alex do all the heavy lifting, she was in no mood to carry things around. Besides Alex looks really hot doing it.

"Yeah, at least they speak English there." The blonde replied a little out of breath as she completed her task.

"If you call that English. It's like they constantly have an apple inside their mouths." Marissa said, as she watched the rise and fall of Alex's chest unnoticed.

"Well, it's much better than here, at least I can tell the words apart. Besides, I think their accent is hot." Alex retorted, closing the door behind the two girls and pressing the elevator's button.

"Is that so, my lady?" Marissa said, trying to fake a British accent and falling miserable.

"It is, young sir." Alex continued, playing along

"In that case, I'll have to really work on mine." The brunette stated entering the elevator.

Alex didn't follow her; she was frozen in her spot. The blonde watched the doors close in front of her and Marissa go down with a smirk on her face.

--

By the time Alex caught up with the brunette she was already waiting inside the limo. The blonde entered without a word, she was still at a loss of what to make out of Marissa's last comment.

Was she flirting with me? No, she couldn't be. It was just a joke. It had to be a joke. She's in love with Ryan. Damn Ryan! Alex thought.

My mom always told me to think before I speak, I guess that's why. Marissa was also having trouble with her thoughts. She couldn't believe what she had said. It was the first thing that crossed her mind. Is she mad I said that? She's not even looking at me. God! She's mad at me.

"Did you call your mom?" The blonde decided to break the ice.

"Yeah. I'm almost sure I convinced her not to come here and kill that bastard." Marissa answered from the other side of the limo.

"You're almost sure?" Alex repeated not understanding.

"Yeah. She's Julie Cooper. She'll do whatever she wants, regardless of what I tell her." The brunette replied with a smirk.

"True. But I don't think I'd stop her." Alex stated seriously

"What do you mean?" Marissa asked confused looking at Alex

"If she decided to kill him, I wouldn't stop her; actually I'm pretty sure I'd give her a hand." The blonde explained, finally looking back at Marissa

"Thanks, I think." The brunette quietly replied. She was at a loss of words, because she knew Alex was telling the truth.

"Sure. Too bad they didn't catch him yet" The blonde said, in a much lighter tone, back at staring outside the window

"How do you know?"

"I called the police while you were packing your bags. They still haven't found him."

"Well, I wanna put it behind me, so as long as he stays the hell away from us, I don't care." Marissa said leaving the limo and entering the airport followed by Alex and the driver that carried their bags.

--

And that was it. Hope you all liked it. See you all in a month... kidding ( i hope)

Please Review.