Title: Unbalancing the Equation
By: SethCohenFan
Summary: Ryan is getting sick, but he doesn't admit it, and a family tragedy sends the entire Cohen family into a downward spiral. What will it take to get things back to normal? SS RM
Rating: PG-13 for now, because of language
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and I am not a nurse, I am just a 14 year old trying to write a story... oh and I don't own the OC either... yet...
A/n: Ummm yeah, I went on vacation, and wrote about 80% of this chapter, and I got writers block and wrote the last part of the climax chapter, which makes me feel special. Anywho, back to good old Seth... ha ha!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 6: The Ice Cream Shop Fiasco
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I drove around Chino, utterly lost. A left turn here, a right turn there, a few U-eys every now and then. This was one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I wondered what the hell I was thinking in even agreeing to help Theresa. That was Ryan's job.
After driving around for what seemed like forever, I spotted a moving van and Theresa. "THERESA!!!" I shouted.
She turned around and smiled, "Hey Seth. Glad you could make it on time." There was something different about her. Different than how I pictured her. I just couldn't place what it was.
"Hey sorry, I got lost o-kay. It's not like I live here or anything," I said, acting defensively, pulling over the car. She laughed.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
I shook my head and went to start the car again. "Do you want me to help or not?" I joked.
"Come on Seth..." she said, giving me one of those strange, unexplainable looks that could just be summed up as 'she-meant-business'. My mom used that glare sometimes. Come to think of it, so did Summer. Damn, it must be something in their genes.
"Alright, alright-"I said, in mock annoyance, hopping out of the Range Rover. "So, where are these, these, heavy boxes that you needed my assistance with?" I asked, trying hard not to laugh.
Well, she laughed, which I took as a good thing. "Actually, I needed a ride, ya know. Only two people fit in the van, and there were two people helping."
I should've known that was going to happen. That always happens.
"Or you could go through the rooms with me and make sure that I have everything."
It was better than nothing, right? I nodded. "All right." I looked at her again, trying to figure out what was different, what was wrong. There was something out of place, but what was it?
She left to go into the house, and I followed, not quite sure of what else to do.
"You're awfully quiet Seth," she said, after we walked through the house twice in silence.
She was kinda right, wasn't she? "I'm just uh- thinking, that's all..." I said, trailing off. I looked around the bare room.
"Sure you are," she said quietly. She had that same tone of voice that Ryan had when he was trying to hide something. I picked up on that fast.
"Theresa, what's up?" I asked, trying not to sound too worried.
"Nothing, I'm just going to miss this place, that's all," she said sighing. Sure she was going to miss this place. That was the exact answer I was looking for too. She was harder to get stuff out of than Ryan.
"Oh, okay," I responded, still not quite believing her. I went around, still trying to look busy. This room must have been Theresa's old room, since it was empty of everything, except for a bed.
Theresa had to be hiding something, that was obvious, but what. It was really beginning to bug me. Suddenly, the alarm on my watch began to go off. Crap! I completely forgot about Ryan's appointment that I bugged mom into getting. That was the alarm I set to wake me up. Damn it!
I turned it off and went back to the pointless search. The whole place was empty, there was no reason to be looking through it.
"Theresa, there's nothing here," I said, wondering if this was just something to make me feel like I was needed. I heard no response.
"Theresa?"
I walked out of the otherwise deserted room, looking for her. When I finally did find her, it was a pretty depressing sight. Theresa was sitting in an empty former of the room crying. Or at least, I think she was crying.
"Theresa, what's wrong?" I asked, walking over to her.
She looked up. "Nothing," she said quickly, wiping the tears from her eyes. Oh come on! She was crying in a corner and claiming that nothing was wrong. That was a very believable story.
"You sure?" I asked, sitting down next to her.
"Yeah," she nodded. I put a comforting arm around her shoulders. It wasn't one of those 'You're-my-girlfriend-and-I-love-you' type hugs, but 'You-look-like-you-needed-this' type hug. She really seemed to need it.
I felt her tense up and I removed my arm in a heartbeat. "Sorry."
"No. Don't be," she said, getting up, "It's just this house, this place. I want to leave more than anything, but it's going to be hard. It IS hard."
I got up as well. "It's gotta be." I agreed. "Do you wanna get outta here?" I asked.
She nodded and grabbed a box in the corner of the room. I grabbed the other one. "Yeah," she said.
We walked in silence again. Yet, this time, it wasn't an annoying silence, more like a necessary one.
Once we got outside, I put the box I was carrying in the back of the van. Then I took the one from her and put it in as well. Her's was heavier than mine. Gee, that just made me feel so great about myself.
I then walked around to the passenger's side of the Range Rover and opened the door for Theresa, who hopped in. "Thank you," she said, before closing the door. I jogged around the front of the car and got in the drivers side before starting the car.
The car was silent, and this time it was irksome. "So are you excited about moving in with Jimmy?" I asked, with a feeble attempt to initiate at least a bare conversation.
"You, of course," she said, but it didn't sound like that, at least to me. She was hiding something.
"You don't sound that was," I said. Damn. That was smart. Real smart. I was really on her good side now. I could see it coming now.
But, her reaction wasn't as bad as it could've been. She simply turned around and faced away from me, not saying a word.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She didn't say a word to me for the rest of the ride. Periodically, I checked to see if the van was still following us, then I'd glance over at Theresa. I went to turn the radio on, and she turned it off immediately.
Yet, she didn't seem as though she was angry or pissed off, merely deep in though. I pulled up into Jimmy's driveway. "We're here," I said.
"Thanks Seth," she said, her voice quite. She opened the door.
"It wasn't a problem," I said as the van pulled up behind us. Maybe she forgot about what I had said. Theresa got out and slammed the door. Or not.
I follow suit, and got out, but didn't slam the door. She was already leaps and bounds ahead of me. By the time I got up there she had already knocked on the door multiple times. Hailey must have been over.
Needless to say, my hypothesis was proven correct when Hailey answered the door. It wasn't surprising, seeing as lately the two hadn't been seen without each other.
Hailey enveloped Theresa in a big hug and then turned to me. "Hello Seth," she said, giving me a strange look, which only confused me more than I already was confused.
"Hello," I responded, "Jimmy wouldn't be there by any chance?" I asked her. For some strange and unexplainable reason, I wanted to talk to him.
"Yeah," she said nodding inside. "Look in the kitchen."
"Thanks," I said, heading for the kitchen. When I got in there, I saw that Hailey was right, for once. "Hey," I said.
Jimmy, who was sitting at the counter, reading a newspaper, looked up at me. "Oh, hey Seth. Long time no see."
"Yeah. I kinda brought Theresa here." I said, sitting down next to him.
"Really? I she asked me to go pick her up this afternoon." he said, putting the newspaper down.
"Well, she called me, and I called her back, and then drove to Chino, got lost, picked her up, and then BAM now I'm here."
Jimmy laughed. "Sure Seth. Thanks."
I laughed as well. "We should go help her bring her stuff in. Then again she has two people in the moving van to help too."
"Okay Seth," he said, stepping away from the counter and heading out towards the door. "But they may already be done."
"Besides, six people are better than four." I said. He gave me this look as if I was crazy, as I got up to follow him out.
By the time we got out there, most of the boxes were in the room that would most likely be Theresa's. "Told you so," Jimmy said.
"Hey, thanks for waiting for us," I said, ignoring Jimmy's comment. I went and grabbed one of the last boxes and carried it inside, nearly running into one of the big scary guys that drove the moving van.
"Well we sure got off easy," laughed Jimmy.
"Definitely," I agreed, walking back outside to Hailey and Theresa. The van was backing quickly out of the driveway and sped off.
There was silence, which had a lot of people just looking at each other, until Jimmy came back out. "Hey, who wants ice cream?" he asked randomly.
"I do!" I said quickly, causing almost everyone to laugh.
"While I don't share his enthusiasm, I'll have some," Theresa said.
Jimmy walked over to Hailey and put an arm around her waist. "How about you babes?" he asked, kissing her quickly on the cheek. PDA. Sometimes, it wasn't needed, like now for instance.
"Sure why not?"
"It's a done deal then," I said, hopping into the Range Rover. For some reason, the thought of ice cream seemed to be a good one, and the sooner we got there, the better.
"Geeze Seth, calm down," said Jimmy, getting into the back with Hailey.
"It's just ice cream," commented Theresa calmly. She got into the passenger's side of the car.
"Exactly," I laughed, "Ice cream!"
I could almost hear Jimmy shaking his head. He probably thought that I was now one of the most immature people in the world. Oh well.
There was silence as the engine turned over. "So what kind of ice cream is everyone going to get?" asked Jimmy.
I pulled out of the driveway and sped down the road towards the "Ice Cream Palace" blocking out the conversation in the rest of the car. At the moment I wanted nothing more than to just drive so Summer's house. I really needed to talk to her.
Before I knew it, we were at the "Ice Cream Palace" and I pulled into a parking space and just waited.
"Seth, you coming?" asked Hailey.
"Oh, yeah," I said, snapping out of my daze and getting out of the car.
I walked over towards the order place with Theresa. Jimmy and Hailey seemed to be a little TOO preoccupied sharing a ginormus ice cream cone. I shook my head.
"Can I help you?" asked the lady behind the counter.
"Yeah, I'd like a scoop of," I paused, quickly glancing at the flavors. "Rocky Road."
"Alright," she said before looking at Theresa.
"I'll have a, uh.. a French Vanilla in a cone."
The girl nodded and went off to get the ice cream. She came with Theresa's first. "Thank you," Theresa smiled and she reached in her pocket for some money.
"Hey, don't worry about it," I said, grabbing a twenty from my pocket.
"Oh no, I couldn't." she said. Then the girl came back with mine.
"That'll be five fifty please." she said. Before Theresa even had a chance, I handed her the twenty.
"Thanks Seth," Theresa said quietly.
"Not a problem," I said, taking the change. Theresa headed over towards Jimmy and Hailey.
"Let's leave those two alone." I said, "Let's go over here." I headed over towards a table and Theresa followed.
She didn't talk, at all. She contented herself with eating her ice cream. That was when I noticed it. It just suddenly hit me. The last time I had heard, Theresa was pregnant, and by now, well, she should be at least six, seven months pregnant.
I didn't really know how to get into the conversation, so I finished my ice cream. She seemed to take a lot longer to finish hers. She went to get up and I stopped her.
"We should get going, I still have to unpack," she said. I laughed and pointed over at Jimmy and Hailey, who were still having fun with the ice cream. It seemed as though they had even brought a second one.
"Let them have fun for a bit longer," I said, rolling my eyes.
"No, I don't think-"she started, but I cut her off.
"Don't worry about it." I said, deciding that now would be the best time to jump into the idea that I had been planning. "So how's mini-Ryan doing?" I asked.
The second I said that I wish I could've taken it back. Tears sprung to her eyes. Crap. Maybe it wasn't a mini-Ryan. What the hell was I thinking?
"Sorry." I said quietly.
"Don't be. I just, I-"she seemed to be having trouble getting what she wanted to say out.
"You don't have to say anything," I said quickly.
"You don't understand, do you Seth? I've been holding it in for the longest time. Only Eddie really knew that-"she stopped again.
"That what?" I asked.
"I had a miscarriage Seth. I lost the baby," she said. The last words hit hard. She'd lost the baby? I could that had happened. Things were going so well.
The tears fell freely from Theresa's eyes, and I wrapped my arm around her. This time, she didn't tense up, she didn't push me away, she just cried.
I didn't really know if I could say anything. What good would, 'It'll all be okay' or 'Awww you poor thing' be? None. I just sat there for the longest time.
"I guess it just wasn't meant to be," she said, slowly pulling away from me.
"That isn't true," I said quickly. "If it wasn't meant to be then you wouldn't have gotten pregnant in the first place."
Once I said that, she got up quickly. "Sorry for getting your shirt all wet," she said angrily. What the hell had I done? That is what I get for trying to help.
With that, she headed over to Jimmy and Hailey, who were thankfully done playing with the ice cream and seemed to be waiting for us to be done talking.
It seemed to me as if they were having some strange conversation, pretending that I wasn't even there. Once again, the feeling of being unwanted crept over me. I went over to the Range Rover and got in. I started the engine and was tempted to drive off and just leave them there, but I couldn't.
Less than a minute later Theresa got in the car as did Hailey and Jimmy. Everything was silent. I pulled out and headed straight to Jimmy's house, saying nothing. Why was I so angry? I shouldn't be so angry, should I?
I pulled up into the driveway and Jimmy and Hailey got out. Theresa stayed. She looked at me, and I looked away. "Seth, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spilled like that, and then got all angry."
I should've just ignored her. Ignore her like she ignored me. "It's okay," I said, still not looking at her.
She opened the door to get out. "See you around Seth," she said, closing the door. For some time, I just sat there in the car thinking. Then it hit me. I should go talk to Summer. Just to talk to her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I pulled the car into Summer's driveway. Hopefully she was home. I shut the car off and walked up to the door and knocked. A red-eyed Summer answered.
"Summer, what's wrong?" I asked instinctively.
"Go to hell Cohen," she said angrily. What? Why was she so angry at me? What was today? 'Get-Mad-At-Seth-Cohen' Day or something?
"Summer, what's wrong?" I asked again.
This time I got a hard slap across the face. "I saw you at the Ice Cream Palace with someone else."
"But Sum-"she cut me off.
"And you two looked to close to be just friends," she said, beginning to cry again.
"Summer, please," I said quickly. She went to slap me again, but I ducked it.
"We're over Co-Seth, just, just-"She slammed the door in my face. I stood there for the longest time, wishing that Summer would just come out and say that it was all a misunderstanding. That never happened.
I wanted more than anything to leave, but I couldn't. I heard a car pull up and stop. I didn't turn around. I knocked on the door again. There was no response.
The passenger of the car walked up behind me. "Seth?" the person asked. I turned around to see Marissa.
"Hey Coop," I said, trying to smile, but finding it impossible.
"Seth, is everything all right?" she asked me.
I shook my head, and turned to leave. "Seth," she said. I didn't turn around. I took it that she got my message when she went and rang the doorbell.
Getting into the Range Rover I heard Summer shout, "Go to hell Cohen." If that didn't make me feel even worse, I didn't know what would.
I started the car and sped off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By the time I got home, I was inches away from crying. It probably was a bad idea to hold Theresa so close when she was crying, but God I felt like shit.
I got out of the car and went into the house.
"Where the hell were you?" asked my dad as I walked in. I ignored him and went into my room.
"SETH COHEN!" he shouted. I heard him following me up the steps. I closed the door to my room and went over to my bed, laying down on it.
Not even three seconds later, dad came barging in. "Seth, what the hell is your problem? Where were you? You weren't at Marissa's or Summers."
I didn't want to answer him. Why the hell should I?
"Seth, talk to me."
I answered almost immediately, surprised at all the anger in my voice. "I got a call from Theresa, I went to Chino to pick her and her stuff up then we drove to Jimmy's house and then went for ice cream and Summer thought that I was cheating on her and now she hates me. Is Ryan home?"
Dad just looked at me. I had said all that with one breath of air. He looked lost. "Yeah, could you repeat that and actually breathe this time?"
I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. I don't think it's possible to feel any lower than I did at that moment.
I heard him leave and close the door. I thought about calling Summer to explain. Maybe that would work. I grabbed my cell and dialed her number. Unfortunately, it was Marissa who picked up.
"Coop, could I talk to Summer?" I asked her.
"Seth, you are such a jerk." she said.
"Marissa, please, let me explain,"
"What is there to explain? You screwed up. Get over it. But I can't believe that you would do something like that, especially to Summer. Have fun with your new girlfriend," she said angrily before hanging up the phone.
Damn it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/n: Well, there is the chapter (and it was a LOT longer than normal), I still don't know whose POV Chapter 7 will be in, so... but anywho, I am mad at myself for splitting up SS (yet the fic will still remain this...)... Yeah. Thank you to:
HOTTERTHNU : It's ok... ff.net can be like that sometimes. But anywho, I loved the nurse character, well not really. But the same thing happened to me, and I have an anger issue, so it wasn't the greatest thing in the world. HA HA!!
deathcab-cutie - Suspense is the GREATEST thing in the world... except maybe the OC.. wait, except DEFENITLEY the OC.
Christina - Thanks! :D
Haley - Did I ever say that it wasn't RM... it just has to get thereish.
TeacherTam - You should've read some of my HP fan fiction, there are worse cliffhangers, come to think of it... I wrote a pretty bad one for later in this chapter.
Lizzy - That is a question that I can tell you won't be answered for some time, maybe...
thatcher - If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?
ally - HA HA!! I'm workin' on it...
Queen of the Elven City - Thanks!
meghan - Thanks a mil!
By: SethCohenFan
Summary: Ryan is getting sick, but he doesn't admit it, and a family tragedy sends the entire Cohen family into a downward spiral. What will it take to get things back to normal? SS RM
Rating: PG-13 for now, because of language
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and I am not a nurse, I am just a 14 year old trying to write a story... oh and I don't own the OC either... yet...
A/n: Ummm yeah, I went on vacation, and wrote about 80% of this chapter, and I got writers block and wrote the last part of the climax chapter, which makes me feel special. Anywho, back to good old Seth... ha ha!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 6: The Ice Cream Shop Fiasco
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I drove around Chino, utterly lost. A left turn here, a right turn there, a few U-eys every now and then. This was one of the weirdest things I've ever experienced. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I wondered what the hell I was thinking in even agreeing to help Theresa. That was Ryan's job.
After driving around for what seemed like forever, I spotted a moving van and Theresa. "THERESA!!!" I shouted.
She turned around and smiled, "Hey Seth. Glad you could make it on time." There was something different about her. Different than how I pictured her. I just couldn't place what it was.
"Hey sorry, I got lost o-kay. It's not like I live here or anything," I said, acting defensively, pulling over the car. She laughed.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?"
I shook my head and went to start the car again. "Do you want me to help or not?" I joked.
"Come on Seth..." she said, giving me one of those strange, unexplainable looks that could just be summed up as 'she-meant-business'. My mom used that glare sometimes. Come to think of it, so did Summer. Damn, it must be something in their genes.
"Alright, alright-"I said, in mock annoyance, hopping out of the Range Rover. "So, where are these, these, heavy boxes that you needed my assistance with?" I asked, trying hard not to laugh.
Well, she laughed, which I took as a good thing. "Actually, I needed a ride, ya know. Only two people fit in the van, and there were two people helping."
I should've known that was going to happen. That always happens.
"Or you could go through the rooms with me and make sure that I have everything."
It was better than nothing, right? I nodded. "All right." I looked at her again, trying to figure out what was different, what was wrong. There was something out of place, but what was it?
She left to go into the house, and I followed, not quite sure of what else to do.
"You're awfully quiet Seth," she said, after we walked through the house twice in silence.
She was kinda right, wasn't she? "I'm just uh- thinking, that's all..." I said, trailing off. I looked around the bare room.
"Sure you are," she said quietly. She had that same tone of voice that Ryan had when he was trying to hide something. I picked up on that fast.
"Theresa, what's up?" I asked, trying not to sound too worried.
"Nothing, I'm just going to miss this place, that's all," she said sighing. Sure she was going to miss this place. That was the exact answer I was looking for too. She was harder to get stuff out of than Ryan.
"Oh, okay," I responded, still not quite believing her. I went around, still trying to look busy. This room must have been Theresa's old room, since it was empty of everything, except for a bed.
Theresa had to be hiding something, that was obvious, but what. It was really beginning to bug me. Suddenly, the alarm on my watch began to go off. Crap! I completely forgot about Ryan's appointment that I bugged mom into getting. That was the alarm I set to wake me up. Damn it!
I turned it off and went back to the pointless search. The whole place was empty, there was no reason to be looking through it.
"Theresa, there's nothing here," I said, wondering if this was just something to make me feel like I was needed. I heard no response.
"Theresa?"
I walked out of the otherwise deserted room, looking for her. When I finally did find her, it was a pretty depressing sight. Theresa was sitting in an empty former of the room crying. Or at least, I think she was crying.
"Theresa, what's wrong?" I asked, walking over to her.
She looked up. "Nothing," she said quickly, wiping the tears from her eyes. Oh come on! She was crying in a corner and claiming that nothing was wrong. That was a very believable story.
"You sure?" I asked, sitting down next to her.
"Yeah," she nodded. I put a comforting arm around her shoulders. It wasn't one of those 'You're-my-girlfriend-and-I-love-you' type hugs, but 'You-look-like-you-needed-this' type hug. She really seemed to need it.
I felt her tense up and I removed my arm in a heartbeat. "Sorry."
"No. Don't be," she said, getting up, "It's just this house, this place. I want to leave more than anything, but it's going to be hard. It IS hard."
I got up as well. "It's gotta be." I agreed. "Do you wanna get outta here?" I asked.
She nodded and grabbed a box in the corner of the room. I grabbed the other one. "Yeah," she said.
We walked in silence again. Yet, this time, it wasn't an annoying silence, more like a necessary one.
Once we got outside, I put the box I was carrying in the back of the van. Then I took the one from her and put it in as well. Her's was heavier than mine. Gee, that just made me feel so great about myself.
I then walked around to the passenger's side of the Range Rover and opened the door for Theresa, who hopped in. "Thank you," she said, before closing the door. I jogged around the front of the car and got in the drivers side before starting the car.
The car was silent, and this time it was irksome. "So are you excited about moving in with Jimmy?" I asked, with a feeble attempt to initiate at least a bare conversation.
"You, of course," she said, but it didn't sound like that, at least to me. She was hiding something.
"You don't sound that was," I said. Damn. That was smart. Real smart. I was really on her good side now. I could see it coming now.
But, her reaction wasn't as bad as it could've been. She simply turned around and faced away from me, not saying a word.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She didn't say a word to me for the rest of the ride. Periodically, I checked to see if the van was still following us, then I'd glance over at Theresa. I went to turn the radio on, and she turned it off immediately.
Yet, she didn't seem as though she was angry or pissed off, merely deep in though. I pulled up into Jimmy's driveway. "We're here," I said.
"Thanks Seth," she said, her voice quite. She opened the door.
"It wasn't a problem," I said as the van pulled up behind us. Maybe she forgot about what I had said. Theresa got out and slammed the door. Or not.
I follow suit, and got out, but didn't slam the door. She was already leaps and bounds ahead of me. By the time I got up there she had already knocked on the door multiple times. Hailey must have been over.
Needless to say, my hypothesis was proven correct when Hailey answered the door. It wasn't surprising, seeing as lately the two hadn't been seen without each other.
Hailey enveloped Theresa in a big hug and then turned to me. "Hello Seth," she said, giving me a strange look, which only confused me more than I already was confused.
"Hello," I responded, "Jimmy wouldn't be there by any chance?" I asked her. For some strange and unexplainable reason, I wanted to talk to him.
"Yeah," she said nodding inside. "Look in the kitchen."
"Thanks," I said, heading for the kitchen. When I got in there, I saw that Hailey was right, for once. "Hey," I said.
Jimmy, who was sitting at the counter, reading a newspaper, looked up at me. "Oh, hey Seth. Long time no see."
"Yeah. I kinda brought Theresa here." I said, sitting down next to him.
"Really? I she asked me to go pick her up this afternoon." he said, putting the newspaper down.
"Well, she called me, and I called her back, and then drove to Chino, got lost, picked her up, and then BAM now I'm here."
Jimmy laughed. "Sure Seth. Thanks."
I laughed as well. "We should go help her bring her stuff in. Then again she has two people in the moving van to help too."
"Okay Seth," he said, stepping away from the counter and heading out towards the door. "But they may already be done."
"Besides, six people are better than four." I said. He gave me this look as if I was crazy, as I got up to follow him out.
By the time we got out there, most of the boxes were in the room that would most likely be Theresa's. "Told you so," Jimmy said.
"Hey, thanks for waiting for us," I said, ignoring Jimmy's comment. I went and grabbed one of the last boxes and carried it inside, nearly running into one of the big scary guys that drove the moving van.
"Well we sure got off easy," laughed Jimmy.
"Definitely," I agreed, walking back outside to Hailey and Theresa. The van was backing quickly out of the driveway and sped off.
There was silence, which had a lot of people just looking at each other, until Jimmy came back out. "Hey, who wants ice cream?" he asked randomly.
"I do!" I said quickly, causing almost everyone to laugh.
"While I don't share his enthusiasm, I'll have some," Theresa said.
Jimmy walked over to Hailey and put an arm around her waist. "How about you babes?" he asked, kissing her quickly on the cheek. PDA. Sometimes, it wasn't needed, like now for instance.
"Sure why not?"
"It's a done deal then," I said, hopping into the Range Rover. For some reason, the thought of ice cream seemed to be a good one, and the sooner we got there, the better.
"Geeze Seth, calm down," said Jimmy, getting into the back with Hailey.
"It's just ice cream," commented Theresa calmly. She got into the passenger's side of the car.
"Exactly," I laughed, "Ice cream!"
I could almost hear Jimmy shaking his head. He probably thought that I was now one of the most immature people in the world. Oh well.
There was silence as the engine turned over. "So what kind of ice cream is everyone going to get?" asked Jimmy.
I pulled out of the driveway and sped down the road towards the "Ice Cream Palace" blocking out the conversation in the rest of the car. At the moment I wanted nothing more than to just drive so Summer's house. I really needed to talk to her.
Before I knew it, we were at the "Ice Cream Palace" and I pulled into a parking space and just waited.
"Seth, you coming?" asked Hailey.
"Oh, yeah," I said, snapping out of my daze and getting out of the car.
I walked over towards the order place with Theresa. Jimmy and Hailey seemed to be a little TOO preoccupied sharing a ginormus ice cream cone. I shook my head.
"Can I help you?" asked the lady behind the counter.
"Yeah, I'd like a scoop of," I paused, quickly glancing at the flavors. "Rocky Road."
"Alright," she said before looking at Theresa.
"I'll have a, uh.. a French Vanilla in a cone."
The girl nodded and went off to get the ice cream. She came with Theresa's first. "Thank you," Theresa smiled and she reached in her pocket for some money.
"Hey, don't worry about it," I said, grabbing a twenty from my pocket.
"Oh no, I couldn't." she said. Then the girl came back with mine.
"That'll be five fifty please." she said. Before Theresa even had a chance, I handed her the twenty.
"Thanks Seth," Theresa said quietly.
"Not a problem," I said, taking the change. Theresa headed over towards Jimmy and Hailey.
"Let's leave those two alone." I said, "Let's go over here." I headed over towards a table and Theresa followed.
She didn't talk, at all. She contented herself with eating her ice cream. That was when I noticed it. It just suddenly hit me. The last time I had heard, Theresa was pregnant, and by now, well, she should be at least six, seven months pregnant.
I didn't really know how to get into the conversation, so I finished my ice cream. She seemed to take a lot longer to finish hers. She went to get up and I stopped her.
"We should get going, I still have to unpack," she said. I laughed and pointed over at Jimmy and Hailey, who were still having fun with the ice cream. It seemed as though they had even brought a second one.
"Let them have fun for a bit longer," I said, rolling my eyes.
"No, I don't think-"she started, but I cut her off.
"Don't worry about it." I said, deciding that now would be the best time to jump into the idea that I had been planning. "So how's mini-Ryan doing?" I asked.
The second I said that I wish I could've taken it back. Tears sprung to her eyes. Crap. Maybe it wasn't a mini-Ryan. What the hell was I thinking?
"Sorry." I said quietly.
"Don't be. I just, I-"she seemed to be having trouble getting what she wanted to say out.
"You don't have to say anything," I said quickly.
"You don't understand, do you Seth? I've been holding it in for the longest time. Only Eddie really knew that-"she stopped again.
"That what?" I asked.
"I had a miscarriage Seth. I lost the baby," she said. The last words hit hard. She'd lost the baby? I could that had happened. Things were going so well.
The tears fell freely from Theresa's eyes, and I wrapped my arm around her. This time, she didn't tense up, she didn't push me away, she just cried.
I didn't really know if I could say anything. What good would, 'It'll all be okay' or 'Awww you poor thing' be? None. I just sat there for the longest time.
"I guess it just wasn't meant to be," she said, slowly pulling away from me.
"That isn't true," I said quickly. "If it wasn't meant to be then you wouldn't have gotten pregnant in the first place."
Once I said that, she got up quickly. "Sorry for getting your shirt all wet," she said angrily. What the hell had I done? That is what I get for trying to help.
With that, she headed over to Jimmy and Hailey, who were thankfully done playing with the ice cream and seemed to be waiting for us to be done talking.
It seemed to me as if they were having some strange conversation, pretending that I wasn't even there. Once again, the feeling of being unwanted crept over me. I went over to the Range Rover and got in. I started the engine and was tempted to drive off and just leave them there, but I couldn't.
Less than a minute later Theresa got in the car as did Hailey and Jimmy. Everything was silent. I pulled out and headed straight to Jimmy's house, saying nothing. Why was I so angry? I shouldn't be so angry, should I?
I pulled up into the driveway and Jimmy and Hailey got out. Theresa stayed. She looked at me, and I looked away. "Seth, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spilled like that, and then got all angry."
I should've just ignored her. Ignore her like she ignored me. "It's okay," I said, still not looking at her.
She opened the door to get out. "See you around Seth," she said, closing the door. For some time, I just sat there in the car thinking. Then it hit me. I should go talk to Summer. Just to talk to her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I pulled the car into Summer's driveway. Hopefully she was home. I shut the car off and walked up to the door and knocked. A red-eyed Summer answered.
"Summer, what's wrong?" I asked instinctively.
"Go to hell Cohen," she said angrily. What? Why was she so angry at me? What was today? 'Get-Mad-At-Seth-Cohen' Day or something?
"Summer, what's wrong?" I asked again.
This time I got a hard slap across the face. "I saw you at the Ice Cream Palace with someone else."
"But Sum-"she cut me off.
"And you two looked to close to be just friends," she said, beginning to cry again.
"Summer, please," I said quickly. She went to slap me again, but I ducked it.
"We're over Co-Seth, just, just-"She slammed the door in my face. I stood there for the longest time, wishing that Summer would just come out and say that it was all a misunderstanding. That never happened.
I wanted more than anything to leave, but I couldn't. I heard a car pull up and stop. I didn't turn around. I knocked on the door again. There was no response.
The passenger of the car walked up behind me. "Seth?" the person asked. I turned around to see Marissa.
"Hey Coop," I said, trying to smile, but finding it impossible.
"Seth, is everything all right?" she asked me.
I shook my head, and turned to leave. "Seth," she said. I didn't turn around. I took it that she got my message when she went and rang the doorbell.
Getting into the Range Rover I heard Summer shout, "Go to hell Cohen." If that didn't make me feel even worse, I didn't know what would.
I started the car and sped off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
By the time I got home, I was inches away from crying. It probably was a bad idea to hold Theresa so close when she was crying, but God I felt like shit.
I got out of the car and went into the house.
"Where the hell were you?" asked my dad as I walked in. I ignored him and went into my room.
"SETH COHEN!" he shouted. I heard him following me up the steps. I closed the door to my room and went over to my bed, laying down on it.
Not even three seconds later, dad came barging in. "Seth, what the hell is your problem? Where were you? You weren't at Marissa's or Summers."
I didn't want to answer him. Why the hell should I?
"Seth, talk to me."
I answered almost immediately, surprised at all the anger in my voice. "I got a call from Theresa, I went to Chino to pick her and her stuff up then we drove to Jimmy's house and then went for ice cream and Summer thought that I was cheating on her and now she hates me. Is Ryan home?"
Dad just looked at me. I had said all that with one breath of air. He looked lost. "Yeah, could you repeat that and actually breathe this time?"
I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. I don't think it's possible to feel any lower than I did at that moment.
I heard him leave and close the door. I thought about calling Summer to explain. Maybe that would work. I grabbed my cell and dialed her number. Unfortunately, it was Marissa who picked up.
"Coop, could I talk to Summer?" I asked her.
"Seth, you are such a jerk." she said.
"Marissa, please, let me explain,"
"What is there to explain? You screwed up. Get over it. But I can't believe that you would do something like that, especially to Summer. Have fun with your new girlfriend," she said angrily before hanging up the phone.
Damn it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/n: Well, there is the chapter (and it was a LOT longer than normal), I still don't know whose POV Chapter 7 will be in, so... but anywho, I am mad at myself for splitting up SS (yet the fic will still remain this...)... Yeah. Thank you to:
HOTTERTHNU : It's ok... ff.net can be like that sometimes. But anywho, I loved the nurse character, well not really. But the same thing happened to me, and I have an anger issue, so it wasn't the greatest thing in the world. HA HA!!
deathcab-cutie - Suspense is the GREATEST thing in the world... except maybe the OC.. wait, except DEFENITLEY the OC.
Christina - Thanks! :D
Haley - Did I ever say that it wasn't RM... it just has to get thereish.
TeacherTam - You should've read some of my HP fan fiction, there are worse cliffhangers, come to think of it... I wrote a pretty bad one for later in this chapter.
Lizzy - That is a question that I can tell you won't be answered for some time, maybe...
thatcher - If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?
ally - HA HA!! I'm workin' on it...
Queen of the Elven City - Thanks!
meghan - Thanks a mil!