Sunsets & Car Crashes
Chapter 4
Your Evil Soul
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 4.
I know you never meant to do everything you put me through
It's okay I forgive you
Just know that when you see me cringe sometimes
I'm trying to rid the poison from my mind
Sunday
Summer woke up with no one beside her and a single pink rose on the pillow next to her. She smiled at his sweet gestures and spent the next hour in bed marveling the previous night's events, and wondering what would happen next.
Seth whistled a tune as he rang the doorbell to Ryan's house. Kate answered, wearing one of Ryan's shirts, and he gave her a polite smile.
"Getting a late start this morning, are we?"
Kate gave him a sarcastic smile. "Actually, if you're looking for Ryan, he isn't here. He went to the Cohen's early this morning. Something about the fundraiser your mom is holding tonight."
"Did he go to help out?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Man, heavy-lifting, here I come. See you later, Kate," he said, turning around and walking away.
"Seth?"
He whipped around.
"When you see Ryan, will you tell him to give me a call?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'll be sure to do that."
Seth reached the house a few minutes later, finding Ryan almost instantly talking to Marissa outside of the house. He had her laughing, and Seth watched the two interact. He had never seen two people so in love that weren't together.
"Hey, man. Marissa," he said, greeting them with a wave.
Marissa raised her eyebrows. "Where were you last night?" She asked, poking him in the stomach.
Seth blushed. "My sleeping arrangements are none of your business, Marissa Cooper."
She smiled, and winked at Ryan. Ryan responded with a toothy grin.
"Oh, Ryan, Kate told me to tell you to call her."
"You talked to Kate?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah. I stopped by your house. I didn't know you'd be here."
"You know, Seth, that's why we do have cell phones."
Seth flipped him off and walked out of the room. "Just call her, man, or she'll probably castrate me or something."
Marissa laughed and looked at Ryan. "You should call your wife."
Ryan nodded, picked up the phone, and walked away.
Later that evening, Ryan found Seth in his old room. He knocked twice and walked in.
"Hey, man," Ryan greeted him, sitting on the bed with Seth, his back facing him.
Seth nodded, his earphones in, a notebook in his hand. "Story ideas?"
Seth nodded again, and pulled the earphones out. He set the notebook down beside him and positioned himself next to Ryan. He sighed. "The company wants me to pitch a potential T.V. show for them. It's due in two weeks and I haven't even started."
Ryan nodded. "I know how you feel. I have this huge house I'm supposed to be designing for Kate's dad."
"What for?"
"I don't know. Real estate reasons."
Seth nodded. "Yeah, I'm trying to get inspiration from Atomic County, but I want to make it real, you know?"
"Yeah."
They sat in silence for a little while. Ryan nudged Seth. Seth looked at Ryan, seeing the huge grin on his face. "You and Summer?"
Seth returned the goofy smile. "Yeah."
"That's great, man."
Seth sighed. "I don't know what's going to happen. Her dad just died, and it just kind of happened. I know I still love her, but I don't know if we can be together. Not after, you know, everything."
Ryan nodded. "Yeah, it's hard after so much has happened, but you need to tell her how you feel."
Seth nodded. "I know."
"Well, I gotta get ready for this thing tonight. See you there?"
"Definitely."
Marissa walked into Summer's room to find her still in bed. She smiled. "Was it really that wild of a night?"
Summer looked over. "You have no idea."
Marissa sat on the bed. "I haven't had good sex in such a long time."
"What about that Italian guy that was on a foreign exchange trip last year? Uh, Tony, wasn't it?"
Marissa's eyes widened. "Didn't I tell you never to bring that up again?"
Summer laughed. "He was hot, Coop."
"He was hot, I'll give him that much, but not up to standards in the bedroom."
"Well, he was a high school student, so that might have something to do with it."
Marissa grabbed a pillow from the other side of the bed, and hit Summer in the face with it. Summer giggled, and hit her back with her own pillow. After their pillow fight, they both collapsed back onto Summer's bed, breathing heavily. Marissa looked over at Summer, still laughing. She was glad to see her best friend laughing again. It had been a long three days since she had seen her enjoy herself. Except last night, but that really wasn't any of her doing. "I came over here to tell you to get ready for Kirsten's fundraiser tonight."
Summer nodded. "Okay, I'll start getting ready," she said, standing up and walking into her bathroom.
Marissa watched her nervous movements.
"Hey, Sum?"
"Yeah, Coop?"
"Are you going to bring up Seth or should I?"
Summer shoulders slumped, and her happy expression immediately changed. "Oh, Coop. I don't know what I'm going to do."
"What do you think is right?"
"I know what I want. I want to be with Seth. But after everything we've put each other through, I just don't see it working. Last night was amazing, but I can't help thinking that it was just because I needed someone. Yes, I love him, but having sex with him was a mistake."
"Tell him that, then, Sum. You need to tell him how you feel."
"I know, Marissa, but it isn't that easy. I know I'm just gonna hurt him. And hurting him is like hurting me, too."
"You know what you have to do, babe."
"I know."
Seth loosened his tie for the fifth time in 20 minutes. Ryan, holding a glass of champagne looked over at him. "Summer here?"
Seth shot a glance at him. "No, don't think so."
Ryan slapped him on the shoulder, took a sip of champagne, and said, "Figured out what you're going to say to her?"
"Not a clue."
Ryan nodded, and looked around. "Uh-oh, three-o'-clock, Seth."
Summer and Marissa entered the backyard of the Cohen home, looking elegant in their dresses. Seth saw Summer grab a glass of champagne right away, and decided that maybe he needed some alcohol as well. He walked over to the bartender. "Vodka on the rocks with a twist," he said, and the bartender immediately began making his drink. He looked behind him and saw Ryan talking to Kate, Marissa talking to Kirsten and Sandy, and Summer walking towards him. His cell phone rang at the exact moment that she was about to say hello, and he excised himself from her, seeing that his boss was calling.
"Seth Cohen," he answered, walking into his mom and dad's room.
Summer waited outside with Marissa for 45 minutes until Seth returned. Marissa walked off to find Ryan as soon as she saw Seth emerge from the house.
"Hey, can we talk?" Summer asked.
He smiled. "Yeah, I was just going to ask you the same thing."
"Good."
He put his hand on the small of her back, leading her into the house. He decided the kitchen wasn't an appropriate place, so he again walked her into his parent's room.
"Seth…,"
"Wait, Summer, let me go first."
She furrowed her brow. "Okay."
"A lot has happened in the short time we've been here. Last night was amazing, I've wanted that for so long. Having you in my arms was one of the things that I needed to get through this weekend. This morning, I came home, I had a long talk with Ryan, and I spent half the day thinking about you, and what I was going to say when this moment came. Summer, all my life I've known that you're the woman I'm supposed to be with. At one point or another in our lives, we were supposed to be together."
"What are you saying?"
"What I'm saying is that maybe that point in time has already passed, maybe we're not supposed to be together anymore. Summer, be bring each other so much joy, but with that, so much more pain. I know that eventually, one of us would hurt the other again, and I can't deal with losing you again."
"Seth, you don't mean that. What happened--that happened a long time ago."
"Doesn't mean I've forgotten about it," he said, the mood darkening, his eyes not looking so soft.
Her voice got angry. "I wasn't the only one that fucked up, Seth. You can not blame all of this on me."
"Summer, what's in the past will stay there. But that can affect some decisions that I'm making right now. Plus, I can't be there for you in the way that you need. I have a job that I have to get back to tonight. That's why my boss called about an hour ago."
"You're leaving tonight?"
"I have to."
"Seth, my dad's funeral is in two days."
"If I don't go back, I lose the position I have."
Summer's tears tasted salty as they leaked out of her eyes and curved around her once rosy cheeks and into her mouth. "Fine. Go."
"Summer, I'm sorry."
"No. You aren't, but it's okay. It's not like I haven't gotten used to you leaving anyway."
Seth kissed her forehead, and mysteriously walked out of the room. Summer collapsed on the floor, sobbing.
Okay, so I majorly left things up in the air, and next chapter will surprise and probably upset some people. But yeah, so review!
And I don't know what to do about Ryan and Marissa, so it'd be great if someone would help me with that!
Thanks.
.emily.