Title - Home
Rating - PG again or maybe G.
Disclaimer - Unfortunately, the OC does not belong to me. However if it did, it wouldn't be the OC.
Summary - Completely AU. Seth and Summer make their individual ways back to Newport after 8 years only to find that some things never change.
Genre - Romance/Angst
Author's Note - Questions, questions, questions. all will be answered soon. Read on and keep reviewing.
Chapter 4 - Decisions
Summer twisted moodily on her bed. She surveyed the shadows around her and crinkled her nose in disgust. They all seemed to form fingers that pointed at her. She thought she heard echoes that hissed 'coward!' Obviously eating an entire gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream and washing it down with heavily sugared cappuccino resulted in insanity. And running away from your could-have-been, would-have-been something-friend resulted in guilt, the kind that kept you awake into the wee hours of the morning, the kind that gnawed at every nerve and fibre in your body, the kind that led to fingers itching to tap out somebody's number on the phone.
Sighing, Summer left her bed to stand at the bay window that framed her room. From it she saw the always-soothing sight of the soft sand caressed by even softer waves and for some reason that got her thinking about toes. Seth's toes, digging into the sand for support when he had first seen her. Then wiggling nervously as he had attempted to put his surprise into words. He hadn't changed all that much. He had filled out a little bit but he still retained that lanky grace and that delicious dimpled smile and his chocolate curls and.. She smiled wistfully as she recalled in breathtaking detail all the little things about Seth's features that were dear to her. Her favourite was the surprise dimple that peeked through his chin. Only when he was really serious like he had been in his impassioned defence of Magic the Gathering on a muggy night in a dingy motel somewhere in Mexico. It also appeared when he was trying to talk his way out of trouble like he had been the last time she had seen him. She could still hear his plaintive pleas. But she had been too hurt to care. On the verge of an epic rage blackout, she had stormed out of his house and his life without so much as a glance behind. Maybe if she had turned, things would have been different. For so many people. In so many ways.
Seth twisted moodily on his bed. Ryan's words echoed in his head. Talk to her. Trust her. Talk to her. Trust her. Talk...Shut up! Shuttup! Shaddap! This was ridiculous. He was 24 years old and acting like he was 16. Well, it wasn't so ridiculous. He did it all the time especially when he was kicking Ryan's butt in the electronic interactive multi-media sense of the term. But this was different. He sighed and burrowed his head into his pillow. If he really wanted to be honest with himself, it wasn't different. When it came to Summer, he was still 16. Over the years, his dreams had become more fanciful, more adult, not in the double entendre sense but in terms of what he wanted from her. It had been easy because she had not been there to rudely pull his head out of the clouds. But essentially, even in his dreams, he remained the geek who wanted the goddess.
Now it was time to wake up. No more dreaming. It was time for the geek to grow-up and say goodbye to the goddess. Metaphorically, of course, because he wasn't calling her. Not at all! Never! Now that most of the red-hot rage had dissipated, throwing her earring in her face didn't seem that necessary. He had found it the morning after that horrid Thanksgiving when he had gone into the pool house to pour out his tale of woe once again to Ryan. He had pocketed it with full intention of giving it back. Of course that had never happened. It had started off in his pocket as a souvenir but it had become a talisman. A sign if you will, to reassure him that she would come back. To claim what was hers.
The clock on the table read 4.30am. The phone rang but stopped before he could get to it. He looked at the number and took in a deep breath.
She placed the receiver down and shook her head firmly. Before she could move, it rang loudly. She looked at the number and took in a deep breath.
"Hey."
That was me before."
"I know."
"I thought.."
"Lunch?"
"Tomorrow at 1....at...."
"The Crab Shack?"
"Okay."
"Good."
"Good."
"I said that already."
"I know."
"So....Good Night?"
"Good Morning, if you want to be specific...."
"Good Morning then."
"Good Morning."
Two phones clicked back into place. Two long breaths were expelled. Two troubled people fell into bed and slept. Soundly and peacefully.
Rating - PG again or maybe G.
Disclaimer - Unfortunately, the OC does not belong to me. However if it did, it wouldn't be the OC.
Summary - Completely AU. Seth and Summer make their individual ways back to Newport after 8 years only to find that some things never change.
Genre - Romance/Angst
Author's Note - Questions, questions, questions. all will be answered soon. Read on and keep reviewing.
Chapter 4 - Decisions
Summer twisted moodily on her bed. She surveyed the shadows around her and crinkled her nose in disgust. They all seemed to form fingers that pointed at her. She thought she heard echoes that hissed 'coward!' Obviously eating an entire gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream and washing it down with heavily sugared cappuccino resulted in insanity. And running away from your could-have-been, would-have-been something-friend resulted in guilt, the kind that kept you awake into the wee hours of the morning, the kind that gnawed at every nerve and fibre in your body, the kind that led to fingers itching to tap out somebody's number on the phone.
Sighing, Summer left her bed to stand at the bay window that framed her room. From it she saw the always-soothing sight of the soft sand caressed by even softer waves and for some reason that got her thinking about toes. Seth's toes, digging into the sand for support when he had first seen her. Then wiggling nervously as he had attempted to put his surprise into words. He hadn't changed all that much. He had filled out a little bit but he still retained that lanky grace and that delicious dimpled smile and his chocolate curls and.. She smiled wistfully as she recalled in breathtaking detail all the little things about Seth's features that were dear to her. Her favourite was the surprise dimple that peeked through his chin. Only when he was really serious like he had been in his impassioned defence of Magic the Gathering on a muggy night in a dingy motel somewhere in Mexico. It also appeared when he was trying to talk his way out of trouble like he had been the last time she had seen him. She could still hear his plaintive pleas. But she had been too hurt to care. On the verge of an epic rage blackout, she had stormed out of his house and his life without so much as a glance behind. Maybe if she had turned, things would have been different. For so many people. In so many ways.
Seth twisted moodily on his bed. Ryan's words echoed in his head. Talk to her. Trust her. Talk to her. Trust her. Talk...Shut up! Shuttup! Shaddap! This was ridiculous. He was 24 years old and acting like he was 16. Well, it wasn't so ridiculous. He did it all the time especially when he was kicking Ryan's butt in the electronic interactive multi-media sense of the term. But this was different. He sighed and burrowed his head into his pillow. If he really wanted to be honest with himself, it wasn't different. When it came to Summer, he was still 16. Over the years, his dreams had become more fanciful, more adult, not in the double entendre sense but in terms of what he wanted from her. It had been easy because she had not been there to rudely pull his head out of the clouds. But essentially, even in his dreams, he remained the geek who wanted the goddess.
Now it was time to wake up. No more dreaming. It was time for the geek to grow-up and say goodbye to the goddess. Metaphorically, of course, because he wasn't calling her. Not at all! Never! Now that most of the red-hot rage had dissipated, throwing her earring in her face didn't seem that necessary. He had found it the morning after that horrid Thanksgiving when he had gone into the pool house to pour out his tale of woe once again to Ryan. He had pocketed it with full intention of giving it back. Of course that had never happened. It had started off in his pocket as a souvenir but it had become a talisman. A sign if you will, to reassure him that she would come back. To claim what was hers.
The clock on the table read 4.30am. The phone rang but stopped before he could get to it. He looked at the number and took in a deep breath.
She placed the receiver down and shook her head firmly. Before she could move, it rang loudly. She looked at the number and took in a deep breath.
"Hey."
That was me before."
"I know."
"I thought.."
"Lunch?"
"Tomorrow at 1....at...."
"The Crab Shack?"
"Okay."
"Good."
"Good."
"I said that already."
"I know."
"So....Good Night?"
"Good Morning, if you want to be specific...."
"Good Morning then."
"Good Morning."
Two phones clicked back into place. Two long breaths were expelled. Two troubled people fell into bed and slept. Soundly and peacefully.