A/N-I decided today to just post the end of this story. I really just wanted to get it done and over with, so this is the final chapter. I hope that everyone enjoyed the story. Thanks to those who read and reviewed, especially those who reviewed every single chapter. And special thanks to Meg for her awesome editing gnome skillz.


Summer sat in her bed, flipping mindlessly through channels. She couldn't find anything that she wanted to watch. Nothing looked any good to her.

She finally settled on watching What Not To Wear, even though it wasn't particularly interesting.

Nothing was really interesting to her anymore. She had changed in the past four months and it wasn't something for the better.

She was paranoid to leave her house or to even be alone. She was always flashing back to those terrible moments that she had experienced. Everyone seemed to understand what she was going through.

She was having problems communicating with her friends and family. After learning that her father was responsible for what had happened, she didn't think she could trust anyone anymore.

That wasn't the only reason that she was withdrawn from everyone though. She was afraid of them. She knew it was irrational to be thinking that but she did.

She still had her fears that she had had all those months ago. She thought they were all going to move on. So, she decided she would help that along by cutting them out of her life.

Julie had tried to convince her to at least see Seth. He, after all, was the one who figured out what was going on. Had it not been for him, she could have very well been dead.

She shuddered at this thought. It wasn't something that she wanted to think about. It was not a pleasant thought at all. And even though Seth was responsible for saving her life, she still didn't want to see him. At least not yet.

They all persisted in trying to have her let them in. Nothing was really working though. As hard as they tried she couldn't let them in.


Summer lay in bed, staring up at her ceiling. This was the first time in four months that she hadn't slept at night. She usually took something to make her sleep but tonight had been a different story. For some reason, she seemed to have misplaced the bottle of pills. She didn't bother searching for it though, as she thought she was over not being able to sleep and that she would fall asleep immediately.

This, of course, was not the case. She laid in bed for hours, and every time she shut her eyes in the dark, she was reminded of that place. She didn't want to think about it at all.

That was how she found herself with all of her lights on, just lying there, staring. It was starting to get a little boring. She didn't honestly foresee herself going to sleep anytime soon, so she grabbed the remote and started channel flipping.

She wasn't really paying attention to what was on the TV, just settled on something that looked like it might help her fall asleep. She watched mindlessly, not thinking about anything but what was on the screen in front of her.

She didn't even hear the crash outside her room at first. When she heard the voice from outside her door and the creaking floor, that's when she knew someone was in her house.

She flashed back to all of those months ago, to the night that she was taken away. She froze in fear. She couldn't believe it was happening again. She hadn't even gotten to really get readjusted to her life. This couldn't be happening.

She found it in her to reach inside the drawer in her bedside table and pulled out her nail file, the closet thing she had that could do any sort of harm. She held it up and waited for whoever it was to come inside.

The door opened and she was ready to lunge at the person. Then, she caught a glance at who it was and was taken completely by surprise.

"Cohen?"

He blinked, looking at her. "You're not supposed to be up."

"Huh?"

"You're…you're usually asleep. You're not."

"Thanks for that information."

This was the first time she had really seen him. Just looking at him, seeing him standing there in front of her, made her realize that she had missed him. A lot.

"Well, then, I suppose you probably want me to go now. Okay. I, uh, I have this for you. For Christmas. I was just going to leave it for you but since you're awake, I suppose, you can, uh, just have it now."

"Wait."

Seth turned and looked at her. "What?"

"Stay."

"Wh-what?"

She wasn't sure if the words had really come out of her mouth. He was here, standing in front of her, and she no longer wanted to be afraid to see everyone. She wanted to try and get over this. Seeing him made her realize she wanted her life to go back to normal. Or, really, as normal as it could be.

"Stay."

"Are you sure?" Seth questioned, looking at her doubtfully.

"Yes. Stay."

He pulled up her desk chair and sat on it. He was unsure of what to do, of what to say, of how to act. It was confusing that she suddenly wanted him there.

As she watched how he was acting, she was suddenly not sure she had made the right choice in telling him to stay. She suddenly felt uncomfortable, considering she hadn't seen him in forever. His life had to have changed in some ways. Maybe he had moved on from her. Maybe he had someone new in his life. She didn't know anything that was going on with him.

"Are you sure you want me to stay?" Seth asked quietly.

"I…no…yes. I don't know anymore."

Seth reached out to grab her hand but she pulled away from him. He looked down at the ground.

"Maybe I should just go," he muttered.

"Please don't."

"But do you actually want me here?" he questioned.

"Cohen, I do," she said. "It's just…"

"I'm trying to understand everything. I have been since you came home. I really have. But you won't let me in. This is the first time you've even made an attempt of any sort."

She was silent. She was trying to pick words that made what she wanted to say to him sound right. She didn't want this to come out the wrong way.

"I think I should go now. Here's your gift."

"I was afraid."

Seth took his hand off the door. He looked at her again. "Afraid of what? Afraid of me?"

"Yes. Kind of. I mean… I went through a hell of a lot--"

"And I know that."

"But…what my dad did to me." She knew the tears were coming out of her eyes. She didn't want to cry but she couldn't help herself. "All that happened to me there…I just…I was afraid. Afraid of everyone. Afraid that you were going to do something to me, afraid that someone was going to act the same way, afraid of everything. Why do you think I've barely left this room and haven't seen anyone?"

Seth took a step closer. "You were really afraid of me?"

She nodded her head, unable to speak due to the sobs that were now shaking her body.

Seth walked over to her, sitting next to her on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her. At first, she flinched at his touch. She settled into his arms, allowing him to hold on to her.

"I won't ever hurt you Summer," he whispered in her ear. "Never ever."

She wanted to believe the words he was telling her but she didn't know if she could. She didn't know how she could even begin to believe that. She had thought that her dad would have never let her be hurt, that he would have always protected her. She had been so wrong about that. He had been the one who hurt her more than anything ever before.

He sat there and held her, whispering those same words over and over to her. He was always going to let her know that he would be there for her, that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her ever again. He was going to protect her for the rest of their lives together, no matter what happened. And he was going to be sure that she knew that.

He knew that her recovering from all that happened was going to take a while. He knew he wasn't going to get the same Summer back that he had before, at least not before. He knew that baby steps were needed. Seth promised himself that he was going to be with her every step of the way. He wasn't going to let her go. Summer would never vanish again.