Holding on for hope.
Disclaimer: We've covered this… I don't own it so let's just get over the fact that life dealt me bad hand and I don't own it and move on with our lives I know I have. I also don't own the storyline 'Friends' own that (Tear) well they kinda do I took some liberties. But the basic idea is 'Friends' And this has the be the longest disclaimer EVER! Lol
A/N: Ok so I just watched an episode of 'Friends' And I became inspired to write this… It's set around when Seth had just come back from Portland so it's set after "The Way We Were". So it's Pre-Alex. Pre-Bait Shop.
He walked slowly up to the Robert's mansion. Breathing in quickly as he saw her bedroom window. He breathed in again all of a sudden becoming light-headed. He swallowed the lump in his throat and for once in his life he hoped that it was her dad or one of the maids that answered. He didn't think he could handle seeing her. Not after Kick-off carnival.
He knew he couldn't avoid her forever.
But he could for now.
He rang the doorbell holding the box under one arm. Ho quickly glanced into the box and saw a variation of things. Make-up she'd left. A bathing suit. A few of her Britney Spears' album's she'd left while refusing to listen to death cab. So basically everything she'd left at his house while they were dating.
He hated this.
He'd never thought he'd have to think of Summer as his ex-girlfriend. But obviously the universe had other plans for him. This was his peace offering. As he gave her this box. He was giving her any hope he had left for their relationship.
He was accepting that he did wrong and as a consequence she'd given up on them and after a few weeks dwelling he would too. But in the back of his mind he'd never loose hope and that's why he slipped the extra item in there.
The door was flung open and there stood Neil Robert's a face of thunder that only turned worse as he saw the visitor. His tie was hung loosely as if he'd just got in from a bad day. His suit jacket was off and he had no shoes on. Seth sighed and breathed in and started talking.
"Good afternoon, sir, good day today isn't it?" Seth said nervous as hell. Their last meeting hadn't gone too… well. What was he talking about, it went crap. The man hated him.
"What do you want Cohen?" The man demanded and Seth cringed at the use of the word Cohen. People only used it if they hated him. Well except for that raven haired girl that lived at the house he was stood outside at that moment.
"Uhh… well… I…" Seth started stuttering. Summer's dad was intimidating.
"Summer's not here" the older man said. He sighed and looked around Seth as if he had better things to do.
"Right" Seth said with a nod then looked to the box remembering why he was there "Could you give her this for me?" He asked passing the box to Dr. Roberts'. Neil looked at the box in confusion and looked at Seth to explain. "It's everything she left at my house when we were dating" Seth calmly told him.
Seth turned to walk away but Dr. Roberts' stopped him. "You're doing the right think you know?" He said. His anger suddenly gone. Seth looked to the man in confusion "Letting her go. If you don't let her go she'll resent you and then you'll never have another chance."
And Seth all of a sudden had a lot of respect for the man that stood before him. People could judge him for being a horrible father and leaving his daughter on his own. But in all truth ness Dr. Neil Roberts' was there for his daughter 110 percent. And Seth had respect for that.
"Thanks" Seth said with another nod making a move to leave.
"Bye Seth" He said with a turn to the door the box tucked under his right arm. Seth smiled he'd called him Seth. As he walked down the stairs he saw Zach's car pull into Summer's road. He didn't want to get caught in Summer's driveway. Summer would think he was a stalked and Zach would… well who knows what Zach would do he was on the water polo team. So Seth quickly returned to the Range Rover pulling out of the driveway before they could see him.
He couldn't help but resent Zach a little. Well ok a LOT. But he had everything. Perfect parents, and while everyone described Seth's parent's as perfect they'd hit a rough spot and didn't look like they were hitting the smooth spot anytime soon, anyway back to Zach, so he had a perfect family, he had perfect grades, while Seth's were falling behind, he was captain of the water polo team he had it all. Not to mention, in Seth's eyes, the perfect girl. He sighed and continued to his own house. Leaving everything he had of Summer behind. Including her.
As Zach pulled into her driveway she couldn't help but notice the familiar range rover pull out on the other side. No it couldn't be she thought. So he'd tried to win her back at kick off carnival and now he'd physically come to her house and was begging forgiveness.
God he is such an ass, so what? He expected to sail off to Tahiti or wherever he went off to and I'd be there waiting for him like Marissa would for Ryan, god come Monday morning I'm going to kick Cohen's as…
"Summer?" Zach asked. She looked at him and stopped rambling in her head. Damn Cohen.
"Uhh… yeah?" She asked with a sweet smile.
"We're here" he said in an obvious tone.
"Oh right well I better go then… I'll see ya Monday?" She asked. He nodded. And leaned into kiss her and she closed her eyes. Dread filling the back of her head.
She knew she shouldn't hate kissing her boyfriend. But he just wasn't him. And that's why she'd keep her eyes closed for a few seconds after the kiss. Pretending to savour the kiss and every time she opened her eyes she expected to see the man with a curly Jew-fro and the beaming smile that would spread for miles just because he'd had a chance to kiss the, Summer Roberts. But all she was greeted with was the plain floppy hair that looked like he had to use tonnes of products on just to get that natural bounce to it and a warm smile. And this would do for her. For now. This was her rebound. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The reason Summer wouldn't let Seth Cohen back into her life wasn't revenge to him, it wasn't that she had an abandonment issue because the only people that had really abandoned her was her mom but she'd gotten over that, and Marissa for the odd boy but she came back. No Summer was a generally happy girl no angst, no issues anywhere in sight. She didn't have commitment issues. Sure Seth had been the first boy that she'd taken an interest of and let him sweep her off her feet. But she was really teaching Seth Cohen a lesson. He couldn't just come back into her life and expect her to be there always. Even though Marissa did it, it was different. Marissa was her best friend. Seth was her boyfriend. Or ex. So she was teaching Seth Cohen a lesson. But it felt more of a lesson to herself.
She waved Zach good-bye as he pulled out of the driveway. Seth would always wait for her to go in before even starting up the ignition or if he was dropping her off he'd walk her to her door. Dammit, Summer thought, stop thinking of Cohen.
She walked in to find her dad actually looking relaxed and not a glass of scotch in sight. It wasn't that her father was an alcoholic he just liked the odd drink.
"You're friend stopped by" He said with a wave of a hand to the front door. Summer nodded knowing he was talking about Seth. He picked up a box and Summer frowned, wondering what it was. "He left this" Handing the box to Summer. Knowing Seth this was probably some get-Summer-back scheme. She took the box up to her bedroom wondering what it was.
She opened it and poured the contents on to her bed. Tears stinging her eyes she sat down next to the items just leafing through everything. She smiled and saw that, like she, he had given her all her stuff back.
She felt some sadness. This meant that everything was ending between them.
She pulled out her CD albums and looked at a few pictures of them he'd had stuffed into her room. A note lay on the side she picked it up as it read 'To Summer'. She looked a bit scared. It looked exactly like the one he'd left before the summer but he wasn't leaving again… was he?
As she opened it she sighed relief. It read:
'To Summer,
Again I'm sorry for leaving and for what happened at the kick off carnival.
Hope we can still be friends even if you don't want to be I'll always be here for you.
Seth
Or Cohen
Whichever you prefer'
She smiled. Stashing the note with their secret notes in class she'd kept and the note from the beginning of summer.
She quickly put all the stuff away and came across one item that wasn't her. It was Seth's.
She picked up the baby blue t-shirt that read 'Have you hugged my t-shirt today?' it was her favourite.
.:. Flashback.:.
Summer and Seth lay back on Summer's bed as they finished watching 'The notebook' with Summer's Kleenex at her right and her left hand dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. And Seth just laughed but Summer knowing a few tears where forming in his chocolate eyes.
"That movie was…" She started "Awesome. Honestly has to be the best one I've seen in a while" she said staring at Seth.
"It was ok" Seth said trying to act manly. Summer just giggled.
"Are you giggling at my manly exterior?" He asked. His hands to her sides tickling her, which caused her to giggle more.
"No of course not" She screeched in between giggles.
He stopped tickling her and took this chance to look around her room. He noted the stuffed animals lined up on her windowsill. The iPod that sat on her desk. The pin board with pictures on. Her room was the model for all teenage girl's room. But something caught his eye. Something draped over her chair. He frowned when he realised what it was. Sitting up and then standing walking to it.
"Isn't this mine?" He asked picking up the t-shirt and inspecting it as if it wasn't his.
Summer rolled her eyes. "No Ryan left it here last night" she said which caused him to turn round and frown at her. "Of course it's yours"
"Then what are you doing with it?" He asked his hands still holding onto said shirt now that he was fully sure it was in fact his own.
Summer shrugged "I like it" Was her only answer Seth nodded.
"You can keep it" He said before returning to his position of beside her on the bed. She lifted his arm up and crawled under it and laid her head under his chest. She loved how she fit so perfectly underneath Seth's arm.
"I know" she replied. Before kissing him.
.:. End Flashback .:.
She picked up the familiar t-shirt. She loved the shirt. At the time she loved it because it smelt like him. She'd slept in it most nights when he was sailing. He couldn't be there to wrap his arms around her so his t-shirt did instead. She had returned with a bunch of his other 'crap' in the summer. But she'd regretted it ever since. Sometimes she couldn't sleep and she'd need that comfort around her.
She lifted the shirt to her face burying her face into it. And because it'd been at the Cohen house it smelt like him once more. She imagined burying her head into the crook of his neck instead of the shirt.
This was his sign.
That he was still holding hope.
And maybe. Just maybe.
She was too.
Ok that didn't come out how I actually wanted it to but I thought it was ok. Man I am on fire with fictions this week! I just feel a bit uninspired for my other fic's but I promise you that they will be updated soon! Tell me what you think! This was supposed to be set in 'Friends' when Ross and Rachel were giving back their stuff and they argued over the 'Frankie says relax' t-shirt and he gave it to her in the end. I saw it today and came up with this. And also I wanted to sort of stress the point about Summer not having issues like some fic's say about her and when people say her dad is never there because in the first season she say's that her dad is her best friend… you're hardly going to be best friends with someone if there never there. But hey it's a fan fiction if you want to write that then your write it lol.
Please review it will save a life. And not just any old life. My life :D