Thanks a lot for the reviews- you guys are awesome. And hilarious (lol
Paula Abdul!?). Oh yeah, and I have to tell you guys my favorite parts of
the last episode even though you don't care.... 1) Seth's awkwardness after
Anna kissed him- so cute! 2) Kirsten saying 'rad.' 3) Seth trying to
communicate everything with a look like Ryan 4) the following convo...
Sandy: You've got Seth. Ryan: Seth's got his women. Sandy: Seth Cohen? Ryan: *nods* Sandy: "...Really?" Ryan: *nods*
Anyway, here ya go...
_____________
Seth came face-to-face with his mother as soon as he opened the door.
"Do you have any idea how worried we were? You cannot just sleep wherever you want and-"
Seth interrupted her, his hands up in defense. "Whoa, mom. Look, I'm okay, right? I'm alive and intact, so we should all just be... grateful, right?"
"Grateful?" Kirsten was no longer yelling, and Seth realized that she had crossed from mixed relief to flat-out anger. "Seth, this is not what we expected from you, and it will never, ever happen again..."
"Definitely, Mom. So right. Never again." She frowned, and he shut up.
"You," she said, "are grounded."
"Uh, for how long?"
Seth let it go when he found himself on the receiving end of another look. Apparently his mom had been taking lessons from Ryan. "Grounded. Okay. So... I should go to my room now..." He took the opportunity to make a getaway up the stairs. Ryan was already in his room, obviously waiting for him.
"Shit, my mom is pissed," Seth fell back onto his bed.
"It could be worse," Ryan offered.
Seth looked at him incredulously. "I spent the night at my girlfriend's house, my parents found out, and my mom probably wants to keep me under house arrest for a good two years."
Ryan shrugged. "You could be dead."
"Way to put things into perspective. Since when are you the eternal optimist?"
There was a pause, and for once it was Ryan who broke the silence. "So... Summer's house."
"Summer's house," Seth repeated. His best friend stared at him, waiting. "Yeah, you know, pretty typical. Watched a few sitcoms, turned in early. Heck, I even got to sleep in the guest room."
Ryan smirked, amused that Seth could even make jokes when he was in trouble. "Oh, is that what you did?"
"Well sure. I mean, of course she wanted me, but I have this amazing willpower thing going on." He dropped the act, and his voice changed tones. "We didn't, you know...." Pause. "Have... sex, or anything."
"Ah," Ryan nodded in acknowledgement.
"Well," Seth attempted to smile. "I guess it's back to the Seth of yesteryear. Are you up for some foosball after I take a shower?"
"Is that allowed under the terms of the grounding?"
"Who knows?" Seth considered. "I never get in trouble, so I'm not used to the whole punishment thing, and neither are my parents. I figure we're both just winging it."
"Good luck with that."
_____________
Summer sighed, absentmindedly glancing at her cell phone (again) to see if she had missed any calls. Nope.
She hadn't heard from Seth since he had skated away that morning, and she was worried about him. Seth had probably never been grounded in his entire life. Sure, he had a big mouth, but he probably hadn't ever done anything to get his parents really worked up before.
She could practically picture the scene as he had gotten home: Kirsten upset and relieved, Sandy off hiding somewhere, Seth trying to lighten up the situation, but getting those little lines of worry on his forehead. They were so cute.
Summer had never really been grounded before, either. Sure, her dad would declare some punishment (no phone, no shopping, whatever) after she had mouthed off or blew him off, but nothing ever came of it. She still went around however she wanted, and he always let things go. As for her step- mom, she would have liked the lady to TRY to punish her. That would be a laugh.
She had no reason to want Summer stuck around the house anyway- it was just easier to let her live her own life. She obviously loathed her step- daughter, which wasn't something that Summer took personally. The feeling was more than mutual.
Her house was more of a pit stop than a home, and her parents were more of a bank and source of formal pleasantries than a family.
Not that she could picture herself lying on a couch in the future, pouring all of this out to a shrink. She was actually quite proud of herself for adapting to all of it so well. It was just the way things were. So her parents sucked, big deal. She had Marisa and Seth. And even Ryan, if she needed him.
Her phone rang, and she picked it up eagerly. "Hello?"
"I made a joke about being in prison, and now Ryan is giving me looks, so I thought I'd call you."
"Cohen! What's the news?"
"I suppose I'm under lock and key until further notice. Nobody said anything about phones though, so I guess we'll just see what happens."
"So are you still giving me rides to school?" With Marisa driving now, Summer figured that would at least give them a little bit of alone time.
"Try and stop me," Seth declared. "My dad probably won't care anyway. You'll just have to find a way to manage until Monday without me."
"I may just have to check out my little black book."
"Yeah? Maybe I'll do the same."
"I don't think the newest Batman counts as a little black book, Cohen."
"Caustic," he said, trying to sound pained. "I don't know if I can handle all this mocking in a crisis situation. You should be awed by my bravery in such times."
"You're so weird."
"There you go again."
"Luckily for you though, you're cute too."
Seth smiled. "And by cute, I'm going to trust you meant sexy and manly. Masculine and oh so hot."
"I was going more for adorable."
"Thanks for the confidence boosters, but I'd better get off the phone and stop pushing my luck."
"I'll work on a jailbreak."
"That's my girl."
"I love you Seth."
Seth immediately remembered that the whole grounding thing was totally worth it. "I love you too."
_____________
Summer kissed Seth lightly when he picked her up on Monday morning.
"I've been wasting away in my house all weekend, and all I get is a peck?" Seth asked, buckling his seatbelt.
"Well, I don't want to overwhelm you," Summer supplied, pulling out her lip gloss.
"Don't be so sure. I just may end up overwhelming you."
Summer rolled her eyes but took the bait, leaning over and giving him a kiss that would last him all day.
"Hmm. So apparently you've missed me too." Seth grinned.
"I just wanted to get it out of the way before I put on my lip gloss," Summer said playfully.
"Fine. I'll get my kisses elsewhere."
"Will you?"
"Sure. I'll bet a certain blonde would be more than happy to share her lip gloss with me." Seth glanced over and saw her glare at him.
"Hilarious."
"Just something to think about, sugar."
Summer leaned over and kiss the hell out of him again. Seth suddenly felt more awake than he ever had in the morning.
"Whoa."
"Yeah, don't forget it." Summer casually began applying her lip gloss.
_____________
Summer glowered when she saw Anna walking with her boyfriend towards his car after school, but her expression immediately softened when she saw him up close.
"Seth..." she breathed, her fingers barely touching his face.
He had a black eye. Summer knew that he got picked on at school, but this... this was different. It was already turning purple and yellow. What pained her even more was the weak smile that he gave her.
"Do I turn you on or what?" He asked.
Summer couldn't help but notice that Anna didn't even have the decency to hang back for a moment. She was standing boldly next to Seth. This annoyed her, but she ignored the blonde. She wasn't important at the moment; Summer was worried about Seth.
She hugged him, hoping that their embrace was comforting him as much as it was her. "What happened?" She asked into his neck.
"Um. Well, Corey Jacobson happened."
"Why?" She examined the bruise again.
Seth gave a hollow laugh. "Like he needs a reason. Maybe I intimidate him. He probably feels like he's just not good enough when I'm around and-"
"Seth," Summer interrupted. "What happened?"
He caved. "It was after Athletics... he was giving me a hard time about dating you... calling me a fag..." he looked down, obviously embarrassed, "and, being me, I made a few comments... and there you go."
"That asshole!" She exclaimed, looking around as though Corey would appear.
"Yeah, well." He was still staring at the ground.
"Cohen," she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "I'm sorry."
"You didn't do anything."
Once again, that miserable look on his face that made her feel horrible... and want to jump him then and there. What was it about that look, anyway?
She leaned over and kissed him gently, but there was an underlying intensity that made him forget about his eye.
"Well hello." He grinned.
Anna cleared her throat, prompting Summer to roll her eyes.
"I'm giving Anna a ride to my house today," Seth explained. "For the project."
Summer felt her stomach turn over with annoyance and frustration at the fact that she got to spend time with Seth while he was grounded.
"I was thinking that we could plan some great escape or something for you this week," Summer said as they drove to her house. "I mean, it worked with Marisa, right?"
"Great escape?" Anna jumped into the conversation.
"I'm grounded," Seth explained simply.
"Why?"
"As I was saying," Summer continued, "I'll talk to Ryan and try to figure something out... but your parents might get all weirded out because of this black eye thing, huh?"
"Yeah, it'll be a fun night," Seth said sarcastically.
"Hey, a little Salinger will take your mind off of things," Anna said, causing Summer to tighten her grip on Seth's hand.
They dropped Summer off, and Anna moved into the front seat, looking curiously at Seth.
"She seemed pretty concerned," she commented.
"Well, that's because she was." He tried to read her tone.
"Okay, so you've been in love with her forever, right? So how do you know you're REALLY in love. I mean, it would be hard to shake off a habit you've had since like third grade." Her hand was suddenly resting on his shoulder.
Seth blinked. Anna had been pretty cool at first, and they had hit it off. Then she had pissed off Summer, but that wasn't anything new.
But now he was grounded, he couldn't see Summer, he had a black eye, and suddenly somebody was about to start a lecture on how she didn't like his girlfriend.
He stopped the car.
"Anna, she is not a habit. She's not a weird obsession, she's not an object of lust. Who are YOU to question our motives? You think that I'm going out with Summer so that I can feel cool? Then check out the black eye. And do you think that she's going out with me to impress her friends? If you haven't been able to tell, she hasn't exactly been getting high-fives for dating me. But you know what? We don't really give a shit about all that, and we're not really concerned with what anybody else thinks."
"Seth-"
"No, no." He turned the car around and drove towards her house. "Just leave it alone."
He dropped her off without another word.
_____________
Review and HELP ME WITH IDEAS. I may just add a closing chapter, I dunno. This is getting harder to write, so we'll see.
As always, thanks for reading!
Sandy: You've got Seth. Ryan: Seth's got his women. Sandy: Seth Cohen? Ryan: *nods* Sandy: "...Really?" Ryan: *nods*
Anyway, here ya go...
_____________
Seth came face-to-face with his mother as soon as he opened the door.
"Do you have any idea how worried we were? You cannot just sleep wherever you want and-"
Seth interrupted her, his hands up in defense. "Whoa, mom. Look, I'm okay, right? I'm alive and intact, so we should all just be... grateful, right?"
"Grateful?" Kirsten was no longer yelling, and Seth realized that she had crossed from mixed relief to flat-out anger. "Seth, this is not what we expected from you, and it will never, ever happen again..."
"Definitely, Mom. So right. Never again." She frowned, and he shut up.
"You," she said, "are grounded."
"Uh, for how long?"
Seth let it go when he found himself on the receiving end of another look. Apparently his mom had been taking lessons from Ryan. "Grounded. Okay. So... I should go to my room now..." He took the opportunity to make a getaway up the stairs. Ryan was already in his room, obviously waiting for him.
"Shit, my mom is pissed," Seth fell back onto his bed.
"It could be worse," Ryan offered.
Seth looked at him incredulously. "I spent the night at my girlfriend's house, my parents found out, and my mom probably wants to keep me under house arrest for a good two years."
Ryan shrugged. "You could be dead."
"Way to put things into perspective. Since when are you the eternal optimist?"
There was a pause, and for once it was Ryan who broke the silence. "So... Summer's house."
"Summer's house," Seth repeated. His best friend stared at him, waiting. "Yeah, you know, pretty typical. Watched a few sitcoms, turned in early. Heck, I even got to sleep in the guest room."
Ryan smirked, amused that Seth could even make jokes when he was in trouble. "Oh, is that what you did?"
"Well sure. I mean, of course she wanted me, but I have this amazing willpower thing going on." He dropped the act, and his voice changed tones. "We didn't, you know...." Pause. "Have... sex, or anything."
"Ah," Ryan nodded in acknowledgement.
"Well," Seth attempted to smile. "I guess it's back to the Seth of yesteryear. Are you up for some foosball after I take a shower?"
"Is that allowed under the terms of the grounding?"
"Who knows?" Seth considered. "I never get in trouble, so I'm not used to the whole punishment thing, and neither are my parents. I figure we're both just winging it."
"Good luck with that."
_____________
Summer sighed, absentmindedly glancing at her cell phone (again) to see if she had missed any calls. Nope.
She hadn't heard from Seth since he had skated away that morning, and she was worried about him. Seth had probably never been grounded in his entire life. Sure, he had a big mouth, but he probably hadn't ever done anything to get his parents really worked up before.
She could practically picture the scene as he had gotten home: Kirsten upset and relieved, Sandy off hiding somewhere, Seth trying to lighten up the situation, but getting those little lines of worry on his forehead. They were so cute.
Summer had never really been grounded before, either. Sure, her dad would declare some punishment (no phone, no shopping, whatever) after she had mouthed off or blew him off, but nothing ever came of it. She still went around however she wanted, and he always let things go. As for her step- mom, she would have liked the lady to TRY to punish her. That would be a laugh.
She had no reason to want Summer stuck around the house anyway- it was just easier to let her live her own life. She obviously loathed her step- daughter, which wasn't something that Summer took personally. The feeling was more than mutual.
Her house was more of a pit stop than a home, and her parents were more of a bank and source of formal pleasantries than a family.
Not that she could picture herself lying on a couch in the future, pouring all of this out to a shrink. She was actually quite proud of herself for adapting to all of it so well. It was just the way things were. So her parents sucked, big deal. She had Marisa and Seth. And even Ryan, if she needed him.
Her phone rang, and she picked it up eagerly. "Hello?"
"I made a joke about being in prison, and now Ryan is giving me looks, so I thought I'd call you."
"Cohen! What's the news?"
"I suppose I'm under lock and key until further notice. Nobody said anything about phones though, so I guess we'll just see what happens."
"So are you still giving me rides to school?" With Marisa driving now, Summer figured that would at least give them a little bit of alone time.
"Try and stop me," Seth declared. "My dad probably won't care anyway. You'll just have to find a way to manage until Monday without me."
"I may just have to check out my little black book."
"Yeah? Maybe I'll do the same."
"I don't think the newest Batman counts as a little black book, Cohen."
"Caustic," he said, trying to sound pained. "I don't know if I can handle all this mocking in a crisis situation. You should be awed by my bravery in such times."
"You're so weird."
"There you go again."
"Luckily for you though, you're cute too."
Seth smiled. "And by cute, I'm going to trust you meant sexy and manly. Masculine and oh so hot."
"I was going more for adorable."
"Thanks for the confidence boosters, but I'd better get off the phone and stop pushing my luck."
"I'll work on a jailbreak."
"That's my girl."
"I love you Seth."
Seth immediately remembered that the whole grounding thing was totally worth it. "I love you too."
_____________
Summer kissed Seth lightly when he picked her up on Monday morning.
"I've been wasting away in my house all weekend, and all I get is a peck?" Seth asked, buckling his seatbelt.
"Well, I don't want to overwhelm you," Summer supplied, pulling out her lip gloss.
"Don't be so sure. I just may end up overwhelming you."
Summer rolled her eyes but took the bait, leaning over and giving him a kiss that would last him all day.
"Hmm. So apparently you've missed me too." Seth grinned.
"I just wanted to get it out of the way before I put on my lip gloss," Summer said playfully.
"Fine. I'll get my kisses elsewhere."
"Will you?"
"Sure. I'll bet a certain blonde would be more than happy to share her lip gloss with me." Seth glanced over and saw her glare at him.
"Hilarious."
"Just something to think about, sugar."
Summer leaned over and kiss the hell out of him again. Seth suddenly felt more awake than he ever had in the morning.
"Whoa."
"Yeah, don't forget it." Summer casually began applying her lip gloss.
_____________
Summer glowered when she saw Anna walking with her boyfriend towards his car after school, but her expression immediately softened when she saw him up close.
"Seth..." she breathed, her fingers barely touching his face.
He had a black eye. Summer knew that he got picked on at school, but this... this was different. It was already turning purple and yellow. What pained her even more was the weak smile that he gave her.
"Do I turn you on or what?" He asked.
Summer couldn't help but notice that Anna didn't even have the decency to hang back for a moment. She was standing boldly next to Seth. This annoyed her, but she ignored the blonde. She wasn't important at the moment; Summer was worried about Seth.
She hugged him, hoping that their embrace was comforting him as much as it was her. "What happened?" She asked into his neck.
"Um. Well, Corey Jacobson happened."
"Why?" She examined the bruise again.
Seth gave a hollow laugh. "Like he needs a reason. Maybe I intimidate him. He probably feels like he's just not good enough when I'm around and-"
"Seth," Summer interrupted. "What happened?"
He caved. "It was after Athletics... he was giving me a hard time about dating you... calling me a fag..." he looked down, obviously embarrassed, "and, being me, I made a few comments... and there you go."
"That asshole!" She exclaimed, looking around as though Corey would appear.
"Yeah, well." He was still staring at the ground.
"Cohen," she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. "I'm sorry."
"You didn't do anything."
Once again, that miserable look on his face that made her feel horrible... and want to jump him then and there. What was it about that look, anyway?
She leaned over and kissed him gently, but there was an underlying intensity that made him forget about his eye.
"Well hello." He grinned.
Anna cleared her throat, prompting Summer to roll her eyes.
"I'm giving Anna a ride to my house today," Seth explained. "For the project."
Summer felt her stomach turn over with annoyance and frustration at the fact that she got to spend time with Seth while he was grounded.
"I was thinking that we could plan some great escape or something for you this week," Summer said as they drove to her house. "I mean, it worked with Marisa, right?"
"Great escape?" Anna jumped into the conversation.
"I'm grounded," Seth explained simply.
"Why?"
"As I was saying," Summer continued, "I'll talk to Ryan and try to figure something out... but your parents might get all weirded out because of this black eye thing, huh?"
"Yeah, it'll be a fun night," Seth said sarcastically.
"Hey, a little Salinger will take your mind off of things," Anna said, causing Summer to tighten her grip on Seth's hand.
They dropped Summer off, and Anna moved into the front seat, looking curiously at Seth.
"She seemed pretty concerned," she commented.
"Well, that's because she was." He tried to read her tone.
"Okay, so you've been in love with her forever, right? So how do you know you're REALLY in love. I mean, it would be hard to shake off a habit you've had since like third grade." Her hand was suddenly resting on his shoulder.
Seth blinked. Anna had been pretty cool at first, and they had hit it off. Then she had pissed off Summer, but that wasn't anything new.
But now he was grounded, he couldn't see Summer, he had a black eye, and suddenly somebody was about to start a lecture on how she didn't like his girlfriend.
He stopped the car.
"Anna, she is not a habit. She's not a weird obsession, she's not an object of lust. Who are YOU to question our motives? You think that I'm going out with Summer so that I can feel cool? Then check out the black eye. And do you think that she's going out with me to impress her friends? If you haven't been able to tell, she hasn't exactly been getting high-fives for dating me. But you know what? We don't really give a shit about all that, and we're not really concerned with what anybody else thinks."
"Seth-"
"No, no." He turned the car around and drove towards her house. "Just leave it alone."
He dropped her off without another word.
_____________
Review and HELP ME WITH IDEAS. I may just add a closing chapter, I dunno. This is getting harder to write, so we'll see.
As always, thanks for reading!