This chapter was already finished when I found out about my Grandma. I'm posting it because I need to say thank you to every single one of you who sent a message. It means a lot.

I might write. I might not.

Thank You.

Crying

A babies cries rung through the house. She nudged her husband.

"It's your turn," She said sleepily. He hadn't even woken up. "Fine, I'll do it," She mumbled. She felt around the bedside table and eventually found her alarm clock. She turned the light on. 3:30. Nobody should be awake at 3:30. She sat up and slowly got out of bed. She wandered down the hall and into her daughter's bedroom.

"Why couldn't you just be born with teeth, huh?" She said, picking her daughter up. She reached to put a dummy in her mouth. She sat down in the chair and cradled her, rocking her back and forth. Briefly she glanced over to the photo frame on the table beside her. There were reminders of him everywhere. She turned her head away. She didn't want to think about him. 3:30 am was not a good time to think about your estranged, alcoholic, drugged up, famous brother-in-law. The baby in her arms slowly drifted back to sleep.

"Thank you, Paige," Summer whispered as she gently laid the child back in the cot. She looked at the clock before turning the light off. 4:15 am. She was never going to get back to sleep. She was one of those people who once they're awake no matter how hard they try they just can't get back to sleep again. She got her dressing gown and went downstairs. The living room light was on. She didn't remember leaving it on...in fact she distinctly remembered turning it off. She turned back on herself, heading towards the shoe cupboard. Most people on suspecting an intruder would go wake their husbands. Summer didn't do this for 2 reasons. Firstly, Seth wasn't the kind of guy who could pin down an intruder...thinking about it Seth wasn't the kind of guy who could pin down a 2 year old. Secondly, she wasn't even sure she would be able to wake him up. She reached the cupboard and as quietly as possible she opened the door. Reaching in she searched for a while then found what she was looking for. She headed back to the living room. Quietly she edged her way around the sofa.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Summer screamed as she jumped out on the intruder. She swung the umbrella.

"OWWWW!"

"SHIT!"

"OWWW!"

"Shit, Marissa, why aren't you in bed?"

"Why are YOU walking around the house armed with an umbrella!?" Marissa clutched her side.

"God, I'm so sorry, I'll get some ice," Summer ran into the kitchen and returned a few seconds later. "All we have is frozen peas," Summer said, holding up and bag. Both women looked at each other then at the bag of peas Summer was holding up like a trophy. They burst into a fit of laughter. Summer collapsed onto the sofa next to Marissa.

"The image of you in a dressing gown, wielding an umbrella is going to stay with me for the rest of my life," They laughed again.

"Wait," Summer had realised something. "God, you can't tell Seth or Sandy, I don't think I'd ever live it down,"

"Don't worry, I won't,"

"What are you doing down here anyway?"

"Not everybody can sleep like Seth,"

"I don't know how Cohen does it,"

"Has we woken up once since she was born?" Summer searched her brain for a moment.

"No...no I don't think he has," Summer and Marissa laughed together again. For the first time Summer noticed the picture on the floor, Marissa had been looking at it. It had been taken the day they'd sailed to the beach, after the whole Trey ordeal.

"Coop, what happened...on the boat before I came to get him?"

"We...talked,"

"About...?"

"He asked me why I didn't stay in contact, why I never came back," Marissa missed out the part where they thought of the future they could have had. It was just...too private.

"And you said...?"

"You know I didn't want him waiting for me; I wanted him to carry on,"

"You know he'd have found carrying on a whole lot easier if you'd just talked," Marissa looked at Summer accusingly. "What? Coop, I will back you on anything...apart from this. You made the wrong choice,"

"You think I don't know that Sum? You think I didn't regret making that choice every day for years? But it's better like this. We never worked and we never will. I'm happy, for the first time in a long time I'm really happy. He's happy too,"

"Yep, lethal mixes of painkillers and alcohol, the absolute definition of happiness," Summer said sarcastically. She saw her best friend's face drop. She knew how much Marissa had been worrying about him and now regretted her comment. "Coop, I'm sorry,"

"No, you're right. Tell me when I'm being selfish, ok?"

"You weren't. It's him who's being selfish; leaving us to think about him all the time, worry about him. He doesn't have the decency to even phone!"

"Chill! He's going through a rough patch, he'll come back,"

"He better do, Cohen is driving me mental,"

"What's he doing?"

"Insisting on watching every news story on him, cutting out clippings, trying to find his phone number...may I say, it's really not easy finding a famous guy's number! I get it. Ryan was...no, Ryan IS his best friend, his brother. But he's got a kid, he needs to help me out," Marissa just nodded. "The scary thing is, the only person who could ever get him to stop moping around, was Ryan. Which is just ironic! But Ryan's too busy popping pills and downing drinks to help out," They hugged each other and began to cry.