"She hates me," Seth moaned to Ryan. "She hates me, man."
"Did she yell?" Ryan asked. Seth shook his head no. "Hit?" Again, no. "Bite?"
"No!" Seth cried. "It's just…God. You should have seen the look she gave me. Like…like she's never been hurt so much in her life. Like I…like I broke her heart.
"You pretty much did," Ryan said. "I dunno, Seth. From what Marissa's told me, from what Summer's shown, you really did a number on her."
Seth flopped back into the couch cushions. "Shit," he muttered. "What if…what if it's over?"
When the party wound down around three in the morning, only a few guests were left. Most had moved on to another rager, or headed somewhere to pass out. Summer and Marissa walked the house wearily, shooing people out. And then, only Ryan and Seth were left, lingering in the kitchen.
"Coop," Summer pleaded. "Get rid of them, please? I-I can't talk to him right now."
"You know you have to eventually, right?" Marissa asked, lightly grazing Summer's arm with her fingertips.
Summer nodded, feeling tears sting her eyes. Seth would not see her cry. "Please," she said, desperation creeping into her voice. "Marissa, please just-"
She was cut off when Ryan and Seth rounded the corner and joined them. "Hey," Ryan said. "Happy birthday, Sum. I don't think I've told you that yet."
"Thanks," she said. "And thanks again for all your help with the party."
"It was no problem," he said dismissively. He glanced at Seth, you was outright staring at Summer. She could actually feel it, like his eyes were boring into her flesh.
"So," Marissa said. "Thanks for coming, guys. Sum and I have been trying to clear people out, so…" Marissa trailed off, obviously searching for a polite way to send them off, and hoping they got the message in the meantime.
"Thanks for coming," Summer said again, echoing Marissa's former words. She couldn't really come up with any of her own. "Goodnight." And Seth too had yet to contribute to this impromptu exchange.
"Summer," Seth said. He reached out, grabbed her arm. Summer's eyes met his, and he was like, crying. Like, there were actual tears in his eyes.
She had to look away. She was fighting her own tears now, and had to pull away her arm to keep from crying. "Goodnight," she whispered, reclaiming her arm. She hugged it to her chest. Seth made her feel. He really made her feel, like nobody else ever had before, and it always surprised her, always threw her off. "C'mon Coop," she said, turning her gaze to her best friend. "There's probably a threesome going on in Julie and Caleb's room…we should take care of that." Marissa smiled.
"Yeah, okay," she said. She leaned in to receive a tame little kiss on the cheek from Ryan before she and Summer turned away.
The girls went to bed. Summer lay there, her pillow bunched under her head. He was back. Seth had come home. And it was clear that he wanted things to back to the way they were, but it didn't seem conceivable to Summer. He'd left...there was a three-month gap in her life- in her heart. And it didn't feel possible to bridge that gap. He'd left her, and that was...inexcusable. Unforgivable. She closed her eyes, unable to think about Seth Cohen for one more millisecond that night.
Grr. Another short one…but it's well past my bedtime and it's been a long day…So! I'll catch ya'll on the flip side…and as always, reviews make me smile!