Disclaimer: Most unfortunately, the O.C does not belong to me. I wished though :)


The car ride to Chino was silent with Ryan deep in thoughts. He had given up a life that was nearly perfect and more than he could ever ask for, when he was not sure if the child was his. The situation was at this point all because of a stupid mistake that he deeply regretted now. He felt remorseful towards the people he had affected: Sandy, Kirsten, Seth and of course, Marissa. Possibly Summer too, indirectly.

"Ryan?" Theresa whispered softly.

Ryan pretended not to hear and ignored her, still facing the window. He couldn't hate her as much as he would like to blame her for the mess. He knew he was partly to blame for what happened. He hoped that he had made the right decision. To come back to Chino.

He had agreed to come back because he felt guilty and needed to do what was morally right. He was not able to experience a proper childhood and wanted this child to be able to experience one, with both parents around. Likewise, he hoped that Eddie was responsible enough to return to Theresa. That is, if the baby was Eddie's.


At the Cohen's, Sandy sighed for the tenth time that day. He had been pacing up and down the kitchen,

frustrated. Kristen sitting at the table, echoed his sentiments.

"Are we bad parents?" Kirsten asked wearily.

Sandy would have loved to comfort her by answering a definite 'no' but he doubted this was the case. After all, they had lost both their sons in a day.

"I don't know, honey." Sandy gently replied. "Maybe Seth just needed space and time to think and we shouldn't force him to come back, at least not for a week."

Kirsten nodded her head in agreement. She knew Seth had been through quite a roller coaster ride the past few days and felt that the sailing trip would allow him to do some reflection.

"Have you called Summer?"

Sandy shook his head, there had been just too much happening.

"Well, someone's got to do it." Kirsten said, passing the phone to him.

Sandy sighed again, accepting the phone to break the news to Summer.


It was much later and Summer had just returned from Cohen's. Although Sandy and Kirsten were present, the house felt unusually empty with both Seth and Ryan gone. Even Sandy and Kirsten felt that their home had lost its warmth.

Summer longed for Seth's sarcasm, his humour and even his idiotic comments. Exhausted, she slumped onto her bed. She could not believe Seth left. She had read the letter repeatedly yet she barely understood why he had to leave. After all, he had her. He loved her, didn't he? He had said so for uncountable times and it was written in the letter too, but his actions did not affirm that.

Tears started streaming down her cheeks and her make-up was ruined. However, she did not care. Curling herself up into a ball on the huge cold bed, she felt so alone. Sobbing uncontrollably, all she wanted was Seth to be back. It was ironic how she needed him to be right next to her now when previously, she wanted to have nothing to do with him at all.

She no longer cared about losing her popularity and reputation, all she wanted was Seth. The seconds seemed like hours as she cried herself to sleep. It was going to be a long summer.


Back at the Cohen's, Sandy and Kirsten were debating if they should tell Ryan about Seth's departure.

"He has the right to know. After all, Seth was his brother," Sandy stated.

"We'll make him feel even more guilty than he already is. He'll think it was his fault that Seth left." Kirsten pointed out.

"It wasn't Ryan's fault, it was-," Sandy paused, unsure of what he was to say.

"Ours? Pretty much."

Sandy opened his mouth to object but Kirsten continued on.

"You know, if Seth was here, he would have made a comment right about now." Kirsten turned to look at Sandy.

"Yeah and we would have sided each other, telling him to shut up."

"But he's not here..." Kirsten trailed off

"Right, but come on, it isn't that bad. What about the times when we always wanted to have the house to ourselves? We can get that now," Sandy smiled slyly.

"You're right. We'll just make the best of the situation," Kirsten returned the smile. "But first, you have to call Ryan."

"Me? I see I'm the official news informer."

"Glad you know that," Kirsten smirked as she handed Sandy the phone again.


Over at her new house, Marissa stared at her room. What good were all the luxury items she had when she could not have the person she wanted most? Seth was right, it was all her fault. She had screwed up once again. If she had listened to Ryan about Oliver, she would not have put Ryan, the Cohens and herself in this sorry state. She wondered if Seth was still angry with her.

Glancing at the bottle in her hand, she knew that Ryan would be furious if he found out she had been drinking again. Would Ryan ever return? She certainly hoped so. Holding onto that glimmer of hope, Marissa capped the bottle and tucked it away under her bed. Maybe she could call him now and hear his voice. Reaching for her phone, she saw the light blinking, indicating she had three new messages.

Just locking myself away for a day and I miss out on so much, she thought bitterly.

Checking them, she was pleasantly surprise to hear Ryan's voice on the first one, telling her that he would always love her and promising that he would come back whenever he could. She smiled for the first time in that day, Ryan just had that effect on her. Maybe it was possible for it to work out between them unlike what she previously thought.

After replaying Ryan's message, she went on to the next one and found it was from Seth. His message was short and simple. He apologized for blaming her and everything else. It ended by Seth telling her to take care.

Marissa was relieved that he was no longer angry with her. However, there was something strange about his message and she could not quite place her finger on it. He was weirder than normal and it had to be something to do about the 'take care' parting. Or it might be that he apologized for everything. Why was he sorry for everything?

Shrugging it off, Marissa went on to the last message...


A/N: I know it might seem boring, but it will get better! review please :)