Wherever

Author's Note:  Hope you enjoy this next chapter. Please feel free to give me any comments on what you think of it, whether it is good or bad. I'd rather you told me the truth rather than lie and say it was the best fic you've ever read, so, go ahead… tell me if it sucks!

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Part 3 – Safe

"Cohen"

"Summer"

Seth stands awkwardly above Summer, not knowing what to say to her. She looks so different from the last time he saw her. Her hair is loosely tied up in a ponytail, and she is wearing a creased, tear-stained grey jumpsuit which matches the pale colour on her face. Her image in this precise moment is a complete contrast to the one which Seth has been holding in his memory for the past few months, the image of his beautiful girlfriend walking away from him at his grandfather's wedding reception. He remembers looking at her after telling her that his boat was named after her, and couldn't believe that she was his. Why did he ever leave her?

After the few moments of silence, Summer stands up and walks away from Seth.

"Summer, wait!" Seth says, grabbing the girl's arm as she attempts to walk away.

"Leave me alone Cohen. I don't walk to talk to you." Summer says, wriggling free from Seth's grip.

"Wait, can't you just stay for one minute? Don't I deserve that?"

"No, you don't!" Summer shouts then starts walking again.

Summer's usage of his real name makes Seth realise that she is really mad at him, but he refuses to give up.

"Please Summer, just listen to me." Seth pleads, following Summer as she walks through the cemetery.    

"No, why don't you listen to me! I know that I'm not the brightest of people but I thought we had a good thing going, I thought you really cared about me. But no, I guess I couldn't have been more wrong." Summer says, almost yelling, turning the heads of others walking by.

"Of course, I cared about you Summer, I still do, a lot."

"I don't think you do. If you had cared about me, you wouldn't have left. You wouldn't have just taken off for the whole summer without so much as a goodbye. Or, you would have phoned at least once and asked me how I was. Because, do you even know how I was, Cohen?"

"I…" Seth begins to answers.

"No, let me finish. I was ripped apart Cohen. I came round to see you, the day you left. I had bought you some tickets for the new Tarantino movie, I wanted to cheer you up, I wish I hadn't even bothered now. I went up to your room and found your note. I was crying for days Cohen. And then… well, just when I thought things were bad, they got a thousand times worse." Summer finishes, not wanting to go over everything that happened in the accident.

"Look, Summer, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. If I had known that you had been going through all of this, I would never have left." Seth explains.

"Then, why did you leave? Didn't you think that I might be slightly upset that you were leaving for a whole summer? Couldn't you have least told me to my face?" Summer asks.

"I… I couldn't." Seth stutters.

Summer shakes her head, which urges Seth to go on.

"I couldn't tell you to your face Summer. If I had told you and seen your reaction, I don't think I would have been able to leave. And I had to leave, I just had to leave. My head was all over the place and I just needed to sort myself out."

"And you needed to go all the way to Tahiti to do that?" Summer asks.

"I went to Tahiti because I had to do something to prove to myself that I could stand on my own two feet. Like I said to you before I left, before Ryan came along I was a loser. I was a scared, lonely and bullied loser who couldn't do anything right. No matter what I did I was laughed at and picked on. My life sucked, Summer, but I didn't have the courage to do anything about it." Seth pauses, taking time to think about what he should say next.

"Ryan gave me that courage, Summer. And when he left, I was scared again. I was scared that I would fall back in to my old ways and loose everything, including you. So I sailed to Tahiti, something that I had dreamt about doing for so long but didn't believe that I could ever do it. But I managed it, even when I was tired, and the waves were threatening to knock me over, I stood up against them. It made me realise that I didn't have to loose everything, that I can do anything if I set my mind to it." Seth finishes.

Summer doesn't say anything; she doesn't know what to say. She wants to be mad at Seth for leaving her, but after everything that has happened over the summer and taking into consideration what he has just told her, she crumbles. Walking over to him, she wipes away the tears that have slipped from her eyes.

"Summer, I.."

"Shh…" Summer interrupts. "You don't have to say anymore, I understand now. I just, I just wished you had called me while you were away. I was worried about you Cohen, I needed to know that you were safe. I.. I need you."

As the tears fall faster down her face, Summer edges closer to Seth.

Seth's heart breaks as he watches the tears fall down his girlfriend's face. The magnitude of the pain she has been through is evident on her tired looking face. Seth may have changed over the summer, but one thing that hasn't changed is his feelings for Summer. He vows to himself that he will never leave her again;

"It's okay, I'm here now and I'm never going to leave you again." Seth says as the tears continue to run down Summer's face.

"Come here." Seth says, holding his arms out to Summer.

Summer envelopes herself in Seth's arms and rests her head on his chest. For the first time in a long while, she feels safe, like she can finally rest.

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To be continued….