Sunsets & Car Crashes
Chapter 2
"Caterpillar"
And I never thought I'd feel this safe again
In a million years
And lying next to you, and hoping that it's true
And with you I'm truly in my element, my element with you
Marissa had to keep company with her magazines for the duration of the plane ride from New York to California. Summer had taken a sleeping pill as soon as they sat down and fallen asleep. Marissa didn't know what to do. She knew her best friend was hurting, but in a normal situation, she would be in Summer's position. Marissa was lost in thought the whole trip, thinking about what she could do and say to make this easier for Summer.
A flight attendant came over the loudspeaker, "If you could please fasten your seatbelts, we will be landing soon."
Marissa brought her chair. to the up-right position and fastened her seat belt. She hated landings. A bumpy landing signaled a bumpy vacation. Not that you'd call going back to your hometown for a funeral vacation, but no work meant vacation for Marissa. 'Maybe things will be okay,' she thought to herself, but then an image of Ryan and his wife popped into her brain, and she shook her head. 'No, they won't.'
Marissa shook Summer. "Sum?"
Summer lifted her head groggily. "Yeah, Coop, I'm up."
"Good, because we've just landed."
"Did I really sleep the whole plane ride?"
Marissa smiled half-heartedly. "Yeah, you did."
"Oh. Sorry to leave you by yourself."
"It's fine, sweetie, I caught up on my reading."
They stood up, exiting the plane, and then proceeded to go to the baggage claim. After some more waiting, they got into the limo that was scheduled to pick them up, the driver taking them to the Cohen's.
"Don't you want to go to your house, Summer?"
"I'm not ready for that, yet. I'm not ready to face her."
"Okay, we'll wait, then."
Summer nodded, and didn't say another word.
"Thanks, Pete," Marissa said, sliding out of the car, and giving him a tip. She had known the man for a very long time. He was always their driver for the big dances, and the big events. Pete smiled warmly, giving her his condolences with his eyes, and drove away.
"Marissa, will you hold my hand? I don't think I can do this without you."
Marissa clasped Summer's hand. "I was never going to not be without you, Sum."
Marissa rang the doorbell, and they both stopped breathing.
It was Kirsten and Sandy that greeted them. They actually looked surprised. "Summer. Marissa."
Marissa hugged Sandy and Kirsten, while Summer stood back. "We weren't expecting you so soon. The boys aren't even here yet."
Sandy cleared his throat, indicating no more talk about the guys was needed, and then proceeded to hug Summer. "I am so sorry, Summer."
"Thank you, Sandy."
Nothing more was needed. Kirsten stepped in grabbing Summer's luggage. "You two are welcome to stay in the pool house. I can see why you wouldn't want to stay at your house."
Summer nodded. "Sandy, have the arrangements been made?"
Sandy sighed. "Some of them. Neil had asked to be cremated, then spread in the ocean, but I left the dates and time, and where the post-funeral place was to be up to you."
She nodded once more.
He continued, "We also have some stuff to discuss regarding the will; whenever you're ready, of course."
"Let's do it now."
"Summer," Marissa began, "are you sure you're ready for that?"
"Marissa, my dad died, I'm not going to be ready for this 4 months from now, but it needs to be done."
She nodded. "Kirsten, why don't we go catch up?"
Kirsten smiled at Marissa, noticing the change in her character, and followed her out of the kitchen into the pool house.
"Please, sit down, Summer," Sandy said, gesturing to a chair.
"Sandy, let's just get down to it. I don't want to beat around the bush."
"Okay. Where do I begin?"
"The beginning."
"Well, for starters, your father left everything to you. The house, the money, all of your mother's belongings; they're all yours. He did set aside a separate account to leave to your step-mother, but that's basically chump change compared to what you inherited. Your dad was a very wealthy man, more wealthy then he led on to be, I think, and basically, Summer, you're set for life."
"How much are we talking about here?"
"All together, that house, and all the assets? About 34 million dollars."
Summer's jaw dropped.
"That's only if the house is sold and the assets redeemed, the account your father left you contains about 21.5 million dollars."
"Wow."
"Yeah. Wow is right. Now, let's talk about the funeral."
"Okay, well I was thinking. Today's Friday, right? I think Tuesday would be a good day to have the funeral. The reception should be here if possible, or I could even have it at my house, but I don't know."
"That would be okay. Kirsten and I are behind you 100, whatever you want to do."
The slamming of the front door shook the whole house. Ryan laughed. "Sandy, Seth's pissed!"
Sandy chuckled, and said nothing as Summer slipped out the back door into the pool house.
"Fucking California drivers, don't know how to fucking drive."
"Hey, watch the mouth."
"Dad, my car got rear-ended. I haven't been in Newport for an hour yet and already something bad has happened!"
Sandy just hugged his son. "It's good to see you, too."
"This is why I work in New York. The people there are so much better. So much more down to earth."
"I should go pick up Kate," Ryan said, as he watched Kirsten walk in the kitchen, coming from the pool house. He cocked an eyebrow. "Why were you in the pool house?"
"Oh, no reason."
Ryan shrugged it off, and watched the embrace between mother and son. "All right, well, I'm gonna go get Kate."
"Wait, Ryan."
"Yeah?" He asked, turning around on his heel.
"Summer and Marissa are out in the pool house. They don't want you guys to know they're here, but I think you should welcome them before we bring any strangers in the house. They already feel like aliens as it is."
Seth and Ryan looked at each other, panicked. Would Marissa look different? Would she act different? What about Summer?
"Oh, boys, just go out there. Pretend like you're 17 again."
"Actually, Mom, that wasn't that long ago."
Ryan led the way.
The walk to the pool house was too quick for Seth. He tried to slow down Ryan, but there was no stopping him. "I'm not ready for this, Ryan. There's so much happening, a heart attack isn't really in store for me right now."
Ryan gave him a stern look. "I guess I shouldn't say that out loud, right?"
"You should try not to say a lot of things out loud, bud."
"Okay. Okay. Ready?"
Ryan knocked on the door and rolled his eyes. He heard a 'come in' and then slowly opened the door. His heart caught in his throat. Marissa still looked the same, but even more beautiful, than the last time he had seen her. It had been a long time. Her hair was darker, but she still looked the same.
Summer stood up suddenly. Marissa smiled. "Hi, guys," she said, staring at Ryan. He still looked the same; a little more toned, a little more older-looking, but still hot.
They stood in silence for a few minutes. Marissa broke it. "Let's not make this weird," she said, walking over to Seth and giving him a hug, then reaching Ryan, whose embrace lingered quite a bit longer. "Long time, no see."
"Tell me about it," she responded.
Summer and Seth also hugged. She chose not to mention anything about the day before, but that familiar smell brought her back to it. Seth seemed taller, more built, more plump, than the last time she had hugged him.
After their awkward moment had been shared, Ryan spoke up.
"Sandy and Kirsten just left to go out to dinner, and I suggest we do the same. So, Crab Shack anyone? Or the diner?"
"The diner sounds good, actually," Summer said.
"All right, we can take the Range Rover. My car's a bit too small."
"There's only four of us, though," Marissa added, confused.
"No, there's 5. Ryan has to pick up his wife," Seth cut in, sounding annoyed.
"Shut up, Seth."
"Hey, dude, you married her."
"How long have you guys been married?" Marissa asked.
Ryan looked at her awkwardly. This hurt so bad. "A year next Tuesday."
Marissa nodded. "We should go, then."
They piled in the car, listening to Seth's strange music, heading to the diner. Ryan turned into a neighborhood close by Summer's house, and Marissa eagerly looked out the window at the house that Ryan pulled the car up to.
"Ryan, is this your house?"
Ryan nodded, and honked the horn. "Kate's dad and I made a deal that if I could design a house that was fit for his daughter to live in, then he would build it within a 10 million dollar budget."
"Shit."
"Yeah, her dad is kind of insane."
Marissa saw a petit brunette girl running towards them. Marissa scooted into the middle next to Summer. Kate opened the door. "Hey, babe," she said, smiling sweetly at Ryan, leaning over Marissa to kiss him. Marissa rolled her eyes. Ryan cleared his throat. "Kate, this is Marissa, and that's Summer."
"Hi!" She said, shaking each of their hands.
"Hi," Summer said, while Marissa remained quiet.
"I'm sorry to hear about your dad, Summer."
Seth closed his eyes. He knew that was coming. "It's okay," he heard her whisper.
"I'm turning the music back up!"
Summer smiled graciously.
They reached the diner. Kate turned up her nose. "I hate this place."
Summer looked at her. "Really? Because all of us love it. We actually kind of grew up in it."
Kate didn't say anything further. She hopped out of the car, Marissa following, slamming the door a little harder than she should have. She saw Ryan hug his wife, and whisper something to her. She felt the tears prick her eyes. That could have been her. It should have been her.
They sat down in a booth and waited for the waiter to come.
"Hi, what can I get for you tonight?"
"Drinks to start? Everyone?" Seth asked.
Everyone ordered water except Summer. "Can I have a beer? I don't care what kind."
Seth raised an eyebrow, and smiled at her. "Actually, beer sounds good. I'll have one as well."
"Me too," Ryan said.
"You drink beer, Sweetie?"
"Yeah, every once in a while. Is that okay, baby?"
She smiled at the name. "Sure."
He snaked his arm around her; that was when she noticed he wasn't wearing his wedding ring.
"Ryan, where's your ring?"
"In the house. I was doing some work today, and then I forgot to put it back on."
"You forgot?"
"Yeah, just to put it back on. I was rushing to get out of the house to go pick up Seth. It's not like I forgot I was married to you."
The waitress then brought their beer and everything was forgotten.
2 hours and 6 beers later, Summer Roberts was drunk. Ryan had stopped at 2, Seth stopped at 1, and Marissa and Kate were completely sober.
"This is why I don't drink, I hate making a fool of myself."
"Summer doesn't really care that much."
"I think that we should go; get her home," Seth said, looking at Summer with a worried expression, who had now started to cry.
"Summer," Marissa began, and put her arm around her, "what's wrong?"
She sighed, tears pouring down her face. "I just miss this, you know?"
Marissa nodded.
"We came here every day after school. I sat by Seth and you sat by Ryan, and everything was fine. Now..,"
"Now what, Sum?"
"Now everything is just fucked up."
"All right, we're gonna get you home," Marissa said, sliding out of the booth. Kate was looking at the girls with utter disgust, and Marissa felt like slapping her.
Seth walked around to the booth. "I'll get her."
He scooped her up like a baby, carrying her outside. He placed her in the backseat, sitting next to her, letting Kate sit in the front with Ryan.
"Seth?"
"Yeah, Sum?"
"I want to go home."
"I know. We're getting there."
"No. I want to go to my home. My dad's house."
"Oh. I don't know, Summer. Are you sure?"
"Positive. And I want you to go with me."
Ryan looked back at Seth, pulling up to his house. Kate hopped out.
"I'll see you later tonight?"
"Maybe. I might stay at the Cohen's. I'll call you?"
She nodded. "Love you."
"Love you, too."
Ryan looked back as soon as she closed the door. "Where to?"
"Summer's house," Seth said, nodding.
Marissa whispered. "I'll just stay in the pool house tonight."
"Yeah, that's good. I'll bring her to you in the morning," Seth said, as Ryan pulled into Summer's driveway.
Seth scooped her into his arms and shut the door of the car. Ryan waited until they got inside before telling Marissa it was okay that she sat in the front seat with him.
"I'm fine back here, thanks," she said.
Ryan rolled his eyes, and heard Marissa mutter something. "What was that?" He said, turning around.
"Nothing, I just said that I hate this."
"I hate it, too, Marissa. But this is your fault. You could have had me. We could have had each other."
"I don't need you to remind me. I live with it every day."
He sighed. "I'm just going to get you home, okay?"
"Okay."
He dropped her off minutes later, her almost in tears, and him deeply regretting the words that he spoke to her.
Summer had managed to stay awake long enough to put her pajamas on. She didn't even care that Seth was in the room. He had flushed a deep red and began to leave, but she told him not to bother. She had argued the point that it wasn't like he had never seen her in the nude before. He decided it was true, but turned around anyway.
He helped her into bed, and pulled the covers over her. Then, he walked over to the couch that him and Summer had fallen asleep on many times before watching TV. He was lying there, listening to her breathe, when he heard her stir.
"Seth?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you come lay with me?"
Seth hesitated. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Summer."
"Please?"
He sighed. "Okay."
He walked over to the bed, and climbed in. Her body immediately responded to his. She put one hand in the crook between his neck, and the other underneath his back. She wrapped one leg around his, and closed her eyes.
Seth tried not to react. It took all of his willpower not to wrap his arms around Summer.
When they were still together in high school, they would go to parties, and Summer would just get really drunk, and then she'd come home with Seth, and go to sleep with him exactly like they were now. And then she'd wake him up at 7 in the morning wanting to have sex. Seth wished that could happen. He wished for one night, this night, they were still back in high school. Instead, he sighed, turned over, and embraced Summer. He kissed her forehead.
"Good night, Summer."
Both slept better that night than they had in a long time.