{Love Song For No One}
{A Sequel To Merry Christmas!}
{Disclaimer} I own the OC and Seth Cohen. Oh, and I'm a pathological liar.
{A/N} anti-anna in this chapter. lots of anti-anna in the future. Sorry to Anna fans! Also, get ready for some realllll drama real soon!
{Chapter 8: From Happy to Hate}
"Summer, can I ask you something?" Marissa asked her friend, furrowing her brow as she glanced at the rack of dresses in front of her.
Summer nodded as they made their way towards the fitting rooms, carefully hanging up all the dresses she had picked out in Nordstrom's on the hanger inside one of the larger rooms.
Marissa sat down on the tiny bench inside, staring at her own reflection in the body size mirror as Summer shut the door, locked it, and turned to her dresses, deciding which one to try on as she kicked off her heels.
Marissa cleared her throat, watching Summer try on a dress, looking back into her own, pale face in the reflection.
"You and Seth are like perfect." Marissa said unsurely, surprised at the words as they came out of her own mouth. She glared back down at her feet, too pained to see the skinny, awkward adult she had grown into. She never felt right in her own body, and looking at it was so painful for her. Self-image problems were so overdone and so cliché that she hated the fact that she even doubted her beauty, because she knew she wasn't exactly an ugly duckling. Everyone knew that, but she couldn't force those feelings of poor self image out of her mind. It had been a forever lasting problem.
"That isn't a question." Summer said with a stern tone, forcing Marissa to stop fixating on her image. "And we are not perfect." Summer frowned a little, trying to suppress her smile as she slid on the next dress.
"Your relationship is. Your life is." Marissa said, running a hand through her long hair, which was starting to stick to the back of her neck. She leaned back against the wall of the fitting room as Summer turned to face her, zipping up the side of the black dress she put on.
Marissa grinned at the familiar placement of Summer's hands on her hips, glaring down at Marissa with fierce reprimanding eyes.
"My life is not perfect." Summer said. "No one's life is perfect."
"I just mean," Marissa straightened up even more, the muscles in her neck contracting and tensing up every few seconds. "You're happy, right?"
Summer eased up a little, letting her hands slip down to her sides as she sat down next to her best friend on the bench. "I've never been happier."
"And that's good." Marissa said, leaning her head against her friend's shoulder. "That's great." She clapped her hands down on her knees to confirm how happy she was for her happy friend but Summer saw right through it, which explained why Summer placed her arm around Marissa, hugging her tightly. "I'm jealous."
"Jealous that I'm happy?" Summer asked in surprise. This very thought brought up battle wounds within Summer.
How jealous she used to be of Julie Cooper's existence in Marissa's life when her own mother was never in her own.
How jealous she was when Jimmy used to hug Marissa, so tightly, with such tender care, something that Summer's father rarely did.
Jealous that Marissa didn't choose popularity, she just became it, while Summer struggled to keep up an image, flirt with the right boys, do things she wasn't very proud of, just to be at Marissa's level.
Jealous that Marissa had Luke her whole life, when Summer had no one.
And then jealous of Ryan.
But all that had stopped when she became involved with Seth.
Summer's jealousy wore off with the rest of the icy layer of her heart. Because of Seth. Without him, she'd still be that petty, envious bitch of a friend she once was.
"You know, if anything ever happened to Seth, I don't know what I would do." Summer said softly, saying her own thoughts out loud.
Marissa stared blankly at how raw the emotional tension was between them and Summer snapped out of it, smiling abruptly as she stood up.
"But don't tell him that." Summer said, covering it up with a laugh and a shrug. "I don't really like any of these dresses. In fact," Summer said as she quickly got back into her own clothes, "I don't really feel like shopping. Let's do something else."
"Like what?" Marissa asked, lifting her head up to once again catch her reflection.
Summer kneeled next to Marissa, squeezing her friend's knee as she did so to get her out of her daze. "I know what we should do! It's something we haven't done since high school!"
"Get drunk and be slutty?" Marissa said with a sarcastic laugh as they exited the dressing room.
Summer pushed open the door to the parking lot, frowning. "What are you talking about? I do that every night of my life." She laughed as they climbed into the car, surprisingly bagless.
"Thanks, Sum." Marissa said, giving her a tiny hug before she buckled up.
"I try." Summer said, squinting her eyes tightly before either of then could shed a tear. "Ew, we're like having a moment."
"Correction, we *were* having a moment." Marissa laughed.
Summer let out a laugh and a grin, "Seth's right. I do ruin moments."
"You're a moment ruiner." Marissa nodded.
"Yeah, but Coop," Summer said with an edge in her tone, "Some moments are made to be ruined."
***********
Usually, when someone drops by the Cohen's household in Boston, Seth would offer them a seat, to take their coat, a drink.
But with every step further into the house the annoying blonde had participated in, he felt something deep inside of him, something that usually was never there.
Hate.
He hated Anna.
Or at least, what she was trying to do.
Which is why he didn't hold back with his guest that day. He let her have it.
"So, what is it that you need to tell me, Seth?" Anna asked, looking up at him innocently from the couch in his living room.
He sat down across from her, folding his arms across his chest as he sighed deeply, trying to calm down the rising anger within him.
"You need to stop this." Seth said firmly, making sure he locked eye contact with her. "Stop visiting me at work. Stop calling my house. Stop seeing me, period."
"But, Seth, I love you." She said this with such trite innocence and passion that he had to completely over ride that feeling of guilt in his chest as he breathed in again, with a malevolent look Anna had never seen before from Seth Cohen. "Oh, baby, what has she done to you?" She stood up slowly, his eyes watching hers intensely as she came up to his chair.
"You may think you love me, Anna. But you don't." He stood up, noticing how close she had come. Their heads were thisclose to practically knocking into each other, their lips, mere inches apart. "And even if you did," Before he could finish, the phone rang and he jumped in appreciation and ran to it. Anna sat back down on her spot on the couch, pulling out a mirror, checking her hair as Seth answered the phone.
"Seth, I talked to Kirsten, and she said I could come out today if I wanted to."
"Listen, Ry, that's a great idea, but, um, Anna's here."
"Oh." Ryan's voice dwindled a little. "Why?"
"Apparently, she's in love with me." Seth said nonchalantly, "But then again, who isn't?"
"You better get rid of her, then." Ryan said without a trace of humor and hung up.
"Easier said then done." Seth muttered as he hung up the phone.
"Was that her?" Anna asked as she closed her mirror, the click of the cosmetic case echoing throughout the house.
"If by her, you mean my wife, Summer, then no, that wasn't her." Seth said firmly, leaning against his chair. "Now, Anna, as I was saying,"
"Seth, hear me out, ok?" She pouted her lips and he nodded in defeat and agony. "For the past four years of my life, I have tried everything to get over you. I found boys who looked like you, acted like you, dressed like you, but none of them *were* you. You're one of a kind. And so am I." Anna stood up. "Summer doesn't deserve you."
"Anna, that's ridiculous." Seth spat out. "If anything, I don't deserve her."
"Seth!" Anna shrieked, causing him to jerk slightly as she stood up. "I'm not going to leave until you realize that I'm the one for you!"
"Anna, that's just not going to happen, I'm in love with Summer. I'm married to Summer; I have two, beautiful kids with Summer." He looked at her with slight apathy as her eyes drifted to the doorway.
"So, you feel nothing for me?" She moved in closer, close enough for him to feel her breath on his neck, all his tiny hairs screeching upward with chills.
"Anna, even when we were dating, I felt nothing." He stared straight into her, realizing her little mind games of seduction. She looked at him, horrified at his reaction. "It's always been Summer."
Anna stared blankly, muttering something inaudible to Seth's ears.
She grabbed her purse from the couch, then turned to glare at him some more.
"You're going to pay for this." She said, threat and pain dying in her throat.
Seth couldn't help but laugh. "Pay for what, Anna? For telling the truth?"
"For making me fall in love with you. For making me believe that I should be," She corrected herself with a shake of her head, "That I am the one for you."
"I never *made* you fall in love with me, Anna." Seth said, opening the door for her. "You're the only person who you should blame for that."
She let out a brief shriek at his comment and struggled out the door, her eyes tearing slightly. How stupid could she be? Groveling all over Seth? He was a married man for god's sake. She was so pathetic, so immature.
"Anna," Seth embraced her gently as the tears rolled down her cheeks. He hated her, but he couldn't let her leave like a train wreck. "You'll find someone."
"I thought I did." She said, looking up at him with remorse. "I won't bother you anymore, Seth." She grinned to herself at these words. She never really planned on 'bothering' Seth anyway. He wasn't the one she had a problem with.
"Thanks." He let go of her and watched her slip into her car. "And Anna," He called out to her as she started to start the car up. She looked up at him, fake, teary eyed and struggling not to cry. "Nevermind." She smiled at him, with a false, yet genuine flush to it and left.
Seth went back inside the house, shifting his feet around with frustration.
He was going to warn her.
That if she tried to pull any more stunts on Summer or anything, that she would be the one paying for it.
But for a split second, his usual, calm, neutral self had remerged.
But the anger was still there, numbing his insides.
Seth tried to shrug it away, but that didn't work either.
This anger was something new, something fresh, and he wasn't sure how to deal with it or how to make it go away. Or even if it was bad or good. Only time would tell.
A/N: Preview of the Next Chapter: Summer and Marissa do some more female bonding, but will Ryan's surprise appearance ruin the fun? And how will Summer react when she finds out that Seth invited Ryan in the first place? Plus, Seth's anger becomes slightly out of control when he takes Ryan out on the town for some male bonding, getting drunk and feisty with that certain blonde we all love to hate. And lastly, some real drama ensues when one of the kids is harmed by that very same blonde. When will the drama end? Never. Basically, that means the next few chapters are going to be very dreary and sad, with lots of overdone drama, that I love to do, as you all know. But don't worry, I will still have some leftover sap for the end of this tale!
{A Sequel To Merry Christmas!}
{Disclaimer} I own the OC and Seth Cohen. Oh, and I'm a pathological liar.
{A/N} anti-anna in this chapter. lots of anti-anna in the future. Sorry to Anna fans! Also, get ready for some realllll drama real soon!
{Chapter 8: From Happy to Hate}
"Summer, can I ask you something?" Marissa asked her friend, furrowing her brow as she glanced at the rack of dresses in front of her.
Summer nodded as they made their way towards the fitting rooms, carefully hanging up all the dresses she had picked out in Nordstrom's on the hanger inside one of the larger rooms.
Marissa sat down on the tiny bench inside, staring at her own reflection in the body size mirror as Summer shut the door, locked it, and turned to her dresses, deciding which one to try on as she kicked off her heels.
Marissa cleared her throat, watching Summer try on a dress, looking back into her own, pale face in the reflection.
"You and Seth are like perfect." Marissa said unsurely, surprised at the words as they came out of her own mouth. She glared back down at her feet, too pained to see the skinny, awkward adult she had grown into. She never felt right in her own body, and looking at it was so painful for her. Self-image problems were so overdone and so cliché that she hated the fact that she even doubted her beauty, because she knew she wasn't exactly an ugly duckling. Everyone knew that, but she couldn't force those feelings of poor self image out of her mind. It had been a forever lasting problem.
"That isn't a question." Summer said with a stern tone, forcing Marissa to stop fixating on her image. "And we are not perfect." Summer frowned a little, trying to suppress her smile as she slid on the next dress.
"Your relationship is. Your life is." Marissa said, running a hand through her long hair, which was starting to stick to the back of her neck. She leaned back against the wall of the fitting room as Summer turned to face her, zipping up the side of the black dress she put on.
Marissa grinned at the familiar placement of Summer's hands on her hips, glaring down at Marissa with fierce reprimanding eyes.
"My life is not perfect." Summer said. "No one's life is perfect."
"I just mean," Marissa straightened up even more, the muscles in her neck contracting and tensing up every few seconds. "You're happy, right?"
Summer eased up a little, letting her hands slip down to her sides as she sat down next to her best friend on the bench. "I've never been happier."
"And that's good." Marissa said, leaning her head against her friend's shoulder. "That's great." She clapped her hands down on her knees to confirm how happy she was for her happy friend but Summer saw right through it, which explained why Summer placed her arm around Marissa, hugging her tightly. "I'm jealous."
"Jealous that I'm happy?" Summer asked in surprise. This very thought brought up battle wounds within Summer.
How jealous she used to be of Julie Cooper's existence in Marissa's life when her own mother was never in her own.
How jealous she was when Jimmy used to hug Marissa, so tightly, with such tender care, something that Summer's father rarely did.
Jealous that Marissa didn't choose popularity, she just became it, while Summer struggled to keep up an image, flirt with the right boys, do things she wasn't very proud of, just to be at Marissa's level.
Jealous that Marissa had Luke her whole life, when Summer had no one.
And then jealous of Ryan.
But all that had stopped when she became involved with Seth.
Summer's jealousy wore off with the rest of the icy layer of her heart. Because of Seth. Without him, she'd still be that petty, envious bitch of a friend she once was.
"You know, if anything ever happened to Seth, I don't know what I would do." Summer said softly, saying her own thoughts out loud.
Marissa stared blankly at how raw the emotional tension was between them and Summer snapped out of it, smiling abruptly as she stood up.
"But don't tell him that." Summer said, covering it up with a laugh and a shrug. "I don't really like any of these dresses. In fact," Summer said as she quickly got back into her own clothes, "I don't really feel like shopping. Let's do something else."
"Like what?" Marissa asked, lifting her head up to once again catch her reflection.
Summer kneeled next to Marissa, squeezing her friend's knee as she did so to get her out of her daze. "I know what we should do! It's something we haven't done since high school!"
"Get drunk and be slutty?" Marissa said with a sarcastic laugh as they exited the dressing room.
Summer pushed open the door to the parking lot, frowning. "What are you talking about? I do that every night of my life." She laughed as they climbed into the car, surprisingly bagless.
"Thanks, Sum." Marissa said, giving her a tiny hug before she buckled up.
"I try." Summer said, squinting her eyes tightly before either of then could shed a tear. "Ew, we're like having a moment."
"Correction, we *were* having a moment." Marissa laughed.
Summer let out a laugh and a grin, "Seth's right. I do ruin moments."
"You're a moment ruiner." Marissa nodded.
"Yeah, but Coop," Summer said with an edge in her tone, "Some moments are made to be ruined."
***********
Usually, when someone drops by the Cohen's household in Boston, Seth would offer them a seat, to take their coat, a drink.
But with every step further into the house the annoying blonde had participated in, he felt something deep inside of him, something that usually was never there.
Hate.
He hated Anna.
Or at least, what she was trying to do.
Which is why he didn't hold back with his guest that day. He let her have it.
"So, what is it that you need to tell me, Seth?" Anna asked, looking up at him innocently from the couch in his living room.
He sat down across from her, folding his arms across his chest as he sighed deeply, trying to calm down the rising anger within him.
"You need to stop this." Seth said firmly, making sure he locked eye contact with her. "Stop visiting me at work. Stop calling my house. Stop seeing me, period."
"But, Seth, I love you." She said this with such trite innocence and passion that he had to completely over ride that feeling of guilt in his chest as he breathed in again, with a malevolent look Anna had never seen before from Seth Cohen. "Oh, baby, what has she done to you?" She stood up slowly, his eyes watching hers intensely as she came up to his chair.
"You may think you love me, Anna. But you don't." He stood up, noticing how close she had come. Their heads were thisclose to practically knocking into each other, their lips, mere inches apart. "And even if you did," Before he could finish, the phone rang and he jumped in appreciation and ran to it. Anna sat back down on her spot on the couch, pulling out a mirror, checking her hair as Seth answered the phone.
"Seth, I talked to Kirsten, and she said I could come out today if I wanted to."
"Listen, Ry, that's a great idea, but, um, Anna's here."
"Oh." Ryan's voice dwindled a little. "Why?"
"Apparently, she's in love with me." Seth said nonchalantly, "But then again, who isn't?"
"You better get rid of her, then." Ryan said without a trace of humor and hung up.
"Easier said then done." Seth muttered as he hung up the phone.
"Was that her?" Anna asked as she closed her mirror, the click of the cosmetic case echoing throughout the house.
"If by her, you mean my wife, Summer, then no, that wasn't her." Seth said firmly, leaning against his chair. "Now, Anna, as I was saying,"
"Seth, hear me out, ok?" She pouted her lips and he nodded in defeat and agony. "For the past four years of my life, I have tried everything to get over you. I found boys who looked like you, acted like you, dressed like you, but none of them *were* you. You're one of a kind. And so am I." Anna stood up. "Summer doesn't deserve you."
"Anna, that's ridiculous." Seth spat out. "If anything, I don't deserve her."
"Seth!" Anna shrieked, causing him to jerk slightly as she stood up. "I'm not going to leave until you realize that I'm the one for you!"
"Anna, that's just not going to happen, I'm in love with Summer. I'm married to Summer; I have two, beautiful kids with Summer." He looked at her with slight apathy as her eyes drifted to the doorway.
"So, you feel nothing for me?" She moved in closer, close enough for him to feel her breath on his neck, all his tiny hairs screeching upward with chills.
"Anna, even when we were dating, I felt nothing." He stared straight into her, realizing her little mind games of seduction. She looked at him, horrified at his reaction. "It's always been Summer."
Anna stared blankly, muttering something inaudible to Seth's ears.
She grabbed her purse from the couch, then turned to glare at him some more.
"You're going to pay for this." She said, threat and pain dying in her throat.
Seth couldn't help but laugh. "Pay for what, Anna? For telling the truth?"
"For making me fall in love with you. For making me believe that I should be," She corrected herself with a shake of her head, "That I am the one for you."
"I never *made* you fall in love with me, Anna." Seth said, opening the door for her. "You're the only person who you should blame for that."
She let out a brief shriek at his comment and struggled out the door, her eyes tearing slightly. How stupid could she be? Groveling all over Seth? He was a married man for god's sake. She was so pathetic, so immature.
"Anna," Seth embraced her gently as the tears rolled down her cheeks. He hated her, but he couldn't let her leave like a train wreck. "You'll find someone."
"I thought I did." She said, looking up at him with remorse. "I won't bother you anymore, Seth." She grinned to herself at these words. She never really planned on 'bothering' Seth anyway. He wasn't the one she had a problem with.
"Thanks." He let go of her and watched her slip into her car. "And Anna," He called out to her as she started to start the car up. She looked up at him, fake, teary eyed and struggling not to cry. "Nevermind." She smiled at him, with a false, yet genuine flush to it and left.
Seth went back inside the house, shifting his feet around with frustration.
He was going to warn her.
That if she tried to pull any more stunts on Summer or anything, that she would be the one paying for it.
But for a split second, his usual, calm, neutral self had remerged.
But the anger was still there, numbing his insides.
Seth tried to shrug it away, but that didn't work either.
This anger was something new, something fresh, and he wasn't sure how to deal with it or how to make it go away. Or even if it was bad or good. Only time would tell.
A/N: Preview of the Next Chapter: Summer and Marissa do some more female bonding, but will Ryan's surprise appearance ruin the fun? And how will Summer react when she finds out that Seth invited Ryan in the first place? Plus, Seth's anger becomes slightly out of control when he takes Ryan out on the town for some male bonding, getting drunk and feisty with that certain blonde we all love to hate. And lastly, some real drama ensues when one of the kids is harmed by that very same blonde. When will the drama end? Never. Basically, that means the next few chapters are going to be very dreary and sad, with lots of overdone drama, that I love to do, as you all know. But don't worry, I will still have some leftover sap for the end of this tale!