Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me (I hate doing these things)
A/N: So, since the first "trilogy" of stories was so popular, I decided I'd give the people what they wanted and do a couple more stories. I've planned two and that really will make a series (not just a mini-series). One reviewer suggested I do another collection of stories based around an episode, (I've already been suggested "The L.A.") so if anyone has any episodes they would like to see in particular, feel free to recommend them. Now, I think I've written a long enough note, so on with the story; review, let me know what you think! Thanks.
When Summer Roberts awoke, she was a very confused teenage girl indeed. Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring right at Seth Cohen, who was sleeping peacefully beside her, with one of his arms thrown over her waist and a dreamy expression on her face. Oh my God, Summer thought, why am I lying in bed with Seth Cohen? I don't even remember having anything to drink last night...we couldn't have...of course not! Ew! But things didn't look too promising, since Summer bolted upright and got a good look at her surroundings: she was in some sleazy motel with cockroaches on the walls and water damage on the ceiling. Great...
However, Summer's fears abated quickly when she saw her best friend, Marissa Cooper, asleep on the foldout couch with Ryan Atwood curled up next to her. Everything made sense now, she remembered; they were in some cheap Mexican motel because their car was in some cheap Mexican repair shop, halfway to Tijuana. Summer breathed a sigh of relief and glanced down at Seth, who hadn't stirred in spite of her sudden awakening. She untangled his arm from around her waist and slipped out of bed; it was still early, the bedside clock proclaimed it was only 6:30 and she couldn't remember ever getting up that early before.
Summer headed over to the window, blanketed with thick, dusty curtains that really clashed with the decor (not that there really was such a thing as far as she was concerned) and pushed the curtains aside. The sky was still a powder gray, the sun hadn't even risen yet. Summer almost considered going back to sleep, but that would mean getting back into bed with Seth Cohen. Yet, somehow, she couldn't bring herself to wrinkle her nose at the night; last night, she remembered having a very interesting conversation with Seth. Was it possible that she had told him about her mother? She barely knew him and yet she had poured her heart out, things she hadn't even told Marissa. And he had been there for her...she remembered it all now and even smiled. Hakuna Matata.
With the smile still fixed on her face, Summer headed back to the bed and hopped back onto the mattress, hard enough to make the spring squeak. "Seth." She whispered, poking him in the shoulder. Seth muttered something and rolled over, putting his back to her. "Seth...wake up." She poked him harder. Still nothing. "Wake up." She tickled him in the ribs and Seth smiled, waving his hand and batting her hands away.
"Quit Summer." He muttered, looking as though he was still asleep and Summer fixed him with a quizzical stare.
"How did you know it was me?" Summer questioned and Seth's eyes snapped open quickly and he looked confused. His eyes roamed the hotel room, getting his bearings before stopping on Summer, who was still staring at him with her eyebrow raised.
Seth cleared his throat. "I thought I was still dreaming." He muttered, staring down at the mattress to avoid seeing her reaction to his words.
Summer wrinkled her nose. "You dream about me? Ew." She rolled her eyes. "Get up." She commanded.
Seth looked up. "Why?" He asked, looking over at the clock. "For God's sake, the sun isn't even up. You really are a vampire woman." He flopped back down on his pillow and pulled the ends over his face.
"Don't be a jerk, Cohen." Summer said. "Get up because I want to see the sunrise." She explained and Seth let the ends of the pillow fall.
Seth raised an eyebrow. "You want to what?" Summer didn't repeat her words. "Go watch it by yourself, I'm not a morning person."
"I don't want to watch it by myself." Seth's eyebrow continued to remain raised. "What if there's some scary Mexican people out there and they want to kidnap me? Or rape me? Or..."
Seth held up a hand to silence her. "Okay, I get the point." He said. "You want me as your big, strong white knight. I can handle that." He smiled, pleased.
Summer rolled her eyes again. "No, I want you there so if some Mexicans try to kidnap me, they'll beat you up first so I can run back to the room." Seth's mouth dropped open and he actually looked hurt. "I'm just kidding. Geez, Cohen." She muttered, slipping out of bed. "Now get dressed, otherwise we'll miss it."
Seth nodded and climbed off the mattress as well. "You don't really think they'll be any Mexicans that want to beat me up, do you?" He questioned, keeping his back turned while Summer pulled her top over her head, then put it back on, remember that she had nothing to change into.
"Don't worry Cohen, I'll protect you." Summer smiled at him and winked.
Seth couldn't help but smile as well. He followed her out of the room and out into the dirt parking lot to watch the sun rise in the horizon.
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Marissa Cooper opened her eyes and yawned, blinking her eyes and realizing that she was holding someone's hand. Not just that, she was in bed with someone (not her bed though, where was she?); surprised, she shifted her position and allowed herself to peek over her shoulder to see who she was lying next to. She smiled when she saw Ryan Atwood, still peacefully asleep beside her, holding onto her hand with his face resting against the small of her back. Marissa couldn't help but think of how cute he looked asleep, with his hair ruffled and a boyish, serenely calm look on his face. She wondered what he was dreaming about.
Marissa let her gaze roam away from Ryan's face and she remembered where she was: some crappy motel just outside Tijuana. Her eyes fell on the empty bed where Seth and Summer had been sleeping last night and wondered where they had gone off to; she hoped that Summer hadn't killed Seth in one of her rage blackouts and hurried off to hide the body. That thought made Marissa chuckle to herself.
Ryan stirred behind her and she turned back around to look at him. His eyes fluttered open and fixed on her face; a smile slid across his lips. "Morning." He muttered, his voice still heavy with sleep.
"Morning." Marissa repeated and leaned over, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. Ryan blinked, surprised by her actions. "What was that for?"
Marissa smiled. "For last night." She answered and Ryan smiled as well. Though it had done little to lift the weight on her heart, Ryan seeing "Muskrat Love" by the vending machines last night had at least put a smile on her face.
Ryan groaned, still smiling, and let go of her hand, running his fingers through his hair. "Oh that. I'm sure I was the world's worst singer." He remarked and Marissa shook her head.
"You weren't that bad." Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe you were, but that's not the point." They both knew what the point was but there was no need to bring it up again; Ryan figured the longer Marissa could go without being reminded of her parent's divorce the better.
Ryan sat up and looked around the motel. "Where's Seth?" He questioned. "And Summer for that matter." Marissa shrugged. "You don't actually think they went off together somewhere voluntarily?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You never know." Marissa pointed out. "Mexico does strange things to people." She looked into Ryan's eyes and could tell that he felt the same way. She would have never had the guts to kiss him back in New Port but she was glad that she had managed to kiss him last night.
Ryan smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He nodded once.
Marissa opened her mouth to say something but stopped when a shrill beeping sound filled the room. Both Ryan and Marissa remained silent, listening to the sound and trying to figure out what was causing it. The beep sounded again and she frowned. "What is that?"
"I have no idea." Ryan stood and looked around the room. The beep continued, but he could not find the source. Marissa sighed and flopped back down on the bed. Ryan turned back around to face her. "Our stuff hasn't gotten here yet." He remarked.
Marissa sat up. "What?" She repeated. There suitcases, Summer's purse, and everything they had brought with them aside from the clothes on their backs and what was in Marissa's purse, were still in the wrecked SUV, which they had left in the care of the Mexican tow truck company. "What are we going to do?" They had no money, no ride and no way to pay for their motel room.
Ryan sighed. "I guess we'll have to think of something. Maybe Seth has a little money left over." The beeping continued and he narrowed his eyes. "What is that!"
The front door opened and Summer and Seth walked into, laughing at some joke that Seth had undoubtedly told moments before. Marissa looked at her friend and raised an eyebrow and Summer instantly forced the smile off her face, clearing her throat and heading over to where Marissa was standing. Seth didn't look at all surprised and continued to grin.
However, the grin faded when Seth saw the dour looks on Ryan and Marissa's faces. "What's the matter? Who died?"
"Our stuff hasn't got here yet, so we don't have any money." Ryan explained. "No money to pay for the room."
Summer frowned. "Where's our stuff?" She whined. "I have expensive Chanel stuff in there!"
Marissa patted her friend's shoulder. "I'm sure the stuff is still in the car and the car is at the auto shop. We'll get down to Tijuana and our car and our stuff will be there." Summer nodded, but she didn't look quite convinced; she half expected all of her expensive luggage and designer outfits would have been stolen and sold on the Mexican Black-market.
The beeping sounded through the room once again and Summer whirled in the direction of the sound. "What was that?" She asked, stalking across the room in the direction of the sound. She stopped right above the bed she and Seth had shared the night before, gazing up at a round, white smoke alarm. The red light blinked and beeped again. "Damn smoke alarm." She growled.
Seth sighed. "Okay, I can already tell this is going to be a great day." He muttered. When Summer was in a bad mood, nothing was pleasant; she had been in such a great mood earlier, when they had watched the sun come up. She hadn't exacted like the Summer he had known for the past eleven years but it was clear that Summer had returned with a vengeance.
"Okay, as annoying as the smoke alarm is, we have bigger problems to worry about." Ryan pointed out, drawing Summer's attention away from the beeping white alarm and causing Seth and Marissa to look over at him. "I've spent my share of nights in motel rooms that my mom never intended on paying for so I can tell you first hand that the people that run these places don't really like it when you bail without paying."
Summer sighed. "Why don't we just tell them we'll send them a check when we get our stuff in T.J.?" She suggested.
Seth looked over at her. "Have you been brushing up on your Spanish, Summer? Because last time I checked, I was the only one that took Spanish and not even I know how to say 'do you take personal check. The only language these people understand is money and we don't have that." Summer rolled her eyes.
"Well, we don't have a lot of time to think about what we're going to do because we told the manager that we'd have the money by eight." Marissa pointed out. The previous night, Seth had managed to convince the manager of the motel that they'd be able to pay for the room in the morning when they got their luggage. "And he seemed pretty insistent that we have the money by then."
Summer nodded. "Yeah, break out legs with a baseball bat insistent." She added and wished she was making a joke. The manager was a big, burly man that reminded her of a bouncer that she had once seen in a club in L.A.; the man had forcefully removed a drunk patron from the club and then proceeded to knock out his teeth when he tried to come back into the club. Summer shuddered and touched her teeth with her fingers; she liked them right where they were.
Seth glanced over at the clock beside the bed; it was 7:55, they had five minutes to do or die (literally, he thought). "Okay, we can think of something, we have to have some money with us."
Summer pulled out her empty pockets to prove that she didn't have a cent on her and headed back over to the smoke alarm, which was still blaring. She narrowed her eyes; the constant beeping was something she didn't need right now.
Ryan's pockets looked much like Summer's, Seth had two dollars left over from lunch at the Taco Hut the previous day and Marissa had a dollar in quarters. "Somehow, I don't think they'll take three dollars as a down payment." Seth muttered over the beeping smoke alarm.
Summer slipped over her shoe, a designer Prada with a three-inch heel, and climbed onto the bed she had shared with Seth hours earlier. She proceeded to pound on the smoke alarm with the heel of her shoe, bringing the shoe down over and over on the plastic alarm; pieces of plastic flew across the room but she didn't stop banging until she was hitting solid wall.
Seth jumped when Summer first started beating the smoke alarm and turned to see what could possibly be making that heavy banging sound. "Summer!" Marissa cried when she saw what her friend was doing.
Satisfied that the beeping sound would be no more, Summer turned back around, hopped off the bed and slipped her shoe back on. "What?" She questioned, seeing the shocked looks on her friend's faces. "Rage blackout." She muttered.
"That's just great Summer." Seth grumbled. "Not only can we not pay for our room but now we can not pay for that smoke alarm you just destroyed!" Summer glared at him.
"I was tired of listening to it beep." She remarked, nudging aside a piece of white plastic as she headed back over to where her friends were standing. "So, have you solved the money problem yet?"
Seth's retort was cut off by someone pounding on the door to their motel room; the person outside of their room shouted in Spanish and then proceeded to pound some more, hard enough to make the windows rattle. Summer grabbed onto Seth's arm. "That's him!" She squealed. "We're going to die."
"I think Summer's right." Seth remarked. "We're going to end up like that smoke alarm." Summer held onto his arm tighter and Seth though he was going to lose all feeling in his hand.
The pounding continued, as did the shouting in Spanish. Seth translated, "He said he's coming inside." He paused. "Or he wants to give us a melon for Easter, I'm not quite sure."
"He doesn't sound like he's in the melon giving mood." Marissa pointed out.
Ryan headed toward the bathroom. "There has to be another way out of here." He muttered and the others followed him, eager to escape the Mexican equivalent to a bouncer. Ryan shut the door behind them, impressed that all four of them actually managed to crowd into the bathroom, and looked around; the small room was windowless, with nothing but a toilet, a shower -complete with shower curtain rod-, a sink and an air duct in the ceiling. His eyes stayed on the air duct; it was big enough for them to squeeze through, but would it lead anywhere?
The banging grew louder and Ryan knew the vent was their only chance. "Okay, we're going through the air duct." He explained.
Summer wrinkled her nose. "There could be rats in there! Or dust! Ew!" Seth rolled his eyes. Outside, the door sounded like it was just about to give way, the shouting growing louder. "Okay, yeah, the air duct sounds great." Summer said quickly, nodded her head.
Ryan turned to look at Marissa. "Do you have a finger nail file in your purse?" He questioned and Marissa looked panicked.
"I left my purse back in the room." Her eyes grew wide. "My cell phone and my wallet's in there, not to mention our hotel reservation in Tijuana." She looked at Ryan. "What are we going to do?"
"Well have to go back." Ryan muttered. The door to the motel room sounded like it was about to give way with any pound. "Any of you guys fast runners?" The manager was going to come in any second.
Summer opened her mouth without thinking. "I was on the track team." She answered, with a chipper tone that suggested she had no idea why Ryan had asked the question.
Ryan raised an eyebrow and said, "Get ready to run." Summer's eyes grew wide. "Where's your purse Marissa?"
"On the fold-out mattress."
"Good luck, Summer." Ryan grinned and opened the bathroom door, pushing Summer out and shutting it behind her. Summer was too surprised by her sudden change of scenery to do much but stand in front of the closed door.
The front door cracked and swung open and Summer found herself staring at the burly Mexican manager who didn't look very pleased, especially with the baseball bat in his hands. These guys really mean business. "I hate you Chino!" She cried before dashing over to the pull out couch and snatching up Marissa's purse. The manager was yelling at her in Spanish and stalking across the room in direction, jabbing at the air with his bat.
Summer pounded on the bathroom door with her palms and the door swung open quickly and Seth pulled her back inside. Ryan slammed the door shut and seconds afterward, something heavy collided with the outside. More angry Spanish followed.
"He's saying 'come out here and pay me or I break your legs you punk kids.'" Seth translated as Summer threw Marissa's purse in Ryan's face. "Or I have two dogs and a wife."
"I think you should switch to French." Marissa remarked over the banging on the bathroom door.
Ryan pulled out a metal nail file and handed Marissa her purse back. Standing on the toilet, Ryan started unscrewing the bolts that held the grate over the duct; the screws dropped onto the ground and seconds later, the grate followed, landing in the shower. "Okay, I'll go first to see where it leads."
Summer rolled her eyes. "That's great, just take your time. And while you're up there, see if there's a Starbucks near by 'cause I'd like to have a double espresso before I could beaten to death by a Mexican bouncer." She snapped and Seth grinned.
Ryan didn't bother to respond as he grabbed onto the ends of the air duct and boosted himself upward and into it. The metal on the sides groaned under his weight but held him nonetheless and he was soon inside the metal air shaft that was barely big enough for him. The duct led straight up as well as to the right, continuing onward, where he was sitting, no doubt leading to the other rooms and other air vents. He figured if they were going to have a chance of getting out of here, they were going to have to head straight up.
Bracing himself against the side of the duct so he didn't fall back into the bathroom, Ryan managed to peek up through the airshaft to see what was at the top; there was another grate but he could see sunlight on the other side: there way out. Keeping himself standing with one hand pressed against one side of the shaft, Ryan balled his other hand into a fist and banged against the grate; he could have used Summer's shoe right about now. Shoe or not, the grate began to give way it and it only took a few more hits before it crumbled and fell to the ground outside.
Ryan slipped back down to the right of the shaft so that he was able to remain sitting without falling back into the bathroom. He could see Marissa, Seth and Summer huddled together, pressed against the sink, trying to stay as far away from the door and angry manager on the other side. "Okay," he called down and they all looked up. "Marissa, you first." He held out of his hand for her to take.
Marissa stepped onto the toilet, shouldering her purse and taking Ryan's hand; she used the shower curtain rod to push herself upward and with Ryan's help managed to clamor into the shaft beside him. In the cramped space, she pressed against him, so close the tips of their noses were touching; Ryan looked into her eyes and smiled. Marissa smiled as well and Ryan said, "Maybe we should get away from the guy who wants to kill us before we..." He trailed off and stared at the ground.
"Right." Marissa nodded and Ryan explained to her where to go and how to keep herself from slipping back down. Marissa tried to brace herself on the wall, grabbing onto the edge of the shaft that would led to the outside but she started to slip backward. Ryan leaned forward quickly and put his hands on her butt to keep her from falling all the way down. Blushing slightly, Marissa thanked him and managed to keep her balance; she pulled herself onto the flat part of the shaft before the broken grate and crawled toward the grate. It was a bit of squeeze, but she managed to wiggle out of the grate and onto the roof.
Once he was sure Marissa was out, Ryan peered down into the bathroom. "Okay, who's next?" He questioned, though, judging by the way the door was starting to creak and splinter, they didn't have a whole lot of time to debate it.
Seth looked at Summer. "You first." He said and nudged her toward Ryan before she could say anything to disagree. Summer used the shower curtain rod to help pull herself up as well, feeling the plastic begin to buckle beneath her weight. Luckily only Seth had yet to go.
"Uh, Ryan," Marissa called from outside on the roof, her voice echoing through the metal shaft. "I think we might have a problem."
Ryan sighed and looked back down at Seth. "Don't worry, I'll help Cohen up. Go see what Marissa's deal is." Summer suggested, nudging him in the direction of the exit. Ryan nodded and headed to do just that.
Summer peeked down at Seth. "Hurry, we don't have all day." She said and he looked up at her.
"Don't rush me." Seth muttered. "I don't like heights."
Summer rolled her eyes. "It's not even that high, you baby." She said. "But if you'd rather spend your afternoon with Carlos and his baseball bat..." She grinned.
"Right, I see your point." Seth climbed onto the toilet and attempted to boost himself upward, using the shower rod like the others before him. However, the rod had supported all the weight it could and snapped, sending Seth tumbled into the shower, completely caught off guard.
Summer's eyes grew wide. "Cohen!" She cried. Seth blinked, shaking his head, slightly stunned from the spill. She breathed a sigh of relief when he looked up at her a gave her a thumbs up sign. "What are you going to do now?"
Seth stumbled to his feet, gingerly feeling the back of his head for a growing bump. He abandoned his search, however, when he saw that the manager with the baseball bat hadn't given up pounding at the door, which was about to give way. Think fast, Cohen but he head hurt too much to think.
"Okay, put one foot on the soap dish." Summer was instructing and Seth looked up her. "And the other on top of the toilet. Then...jump." It seemed like the only option. Manager Carlos was getting closer and closer to breaking down the door. He'd be a great bouncer, Summer thought to herself.
Unable to think of anything else, Seth did as Summer instructed, placing on foot on the soap dish in the shower and the other on top of the toilet, leaving him barely balanced with his legs spread widely apart. "You're crazy if you think I can jump like this." He remarked.
"Just do it!" Summer snapped and held out her hand for Seth to catch. Closing his eyes, Seth jumped as best he could in his current position. He was amazed when he actually managed to catch Summer's hand, grabbing onto the edge of the vent to keep from pulling them both downward.
Summer gritted her teeth and struggled to pull Seth into the shaft; he looked like such a skinny kid but he sure didn't feel that way as she tried to pull him up. Seth boosted himself up by holding onto the edge of the vent and they both went crashing into the shaft, Summer landing on her back and Seth landing on her. Summer giggled and looked up at Seth, who was staring at her.
"I wish I could see the look on that guy's face when he breaks down the door and sees that we've disappeared." Summer giggled and rolled her eyes, wishing she knew enough Spanish to pantomime his reaction.
Seth didn't respond, feeling the impulse to kiss Summer and, for the first time in his life, Seth Cohen acted on his impulses. Summer seemed surprised by his sudden kiss but didn't pull away and surprised Seth even more by returning the kiss. The kiss was finally broken and Seth blushed slightly, as though realizing their current position for the first time. Summer grinned. "You're such a dork, Cohen." She said. Though she was starting to believe that wasn't the worst thing.
Seth sat up and allowed Summer to sit as well. "But that's why you like me right?" He said with a grin and Summer rolled her eyes. "Seriously though." Summer didn't answer, still smiling.
With Seth still pressing Summer on why she liked him (though he figured she would be all too quick to deny it if he gave her time) Summer and Seth crawled out of the air shaft, through the hole that had once been blocked by the grate and out onto the roof with Ryan and Marissa. They quickly saw that Marissa's little problem was a big one indeed; the roof was a good three stories off the ground, presenting them with a not so pleasant drop.
"Finally, we thought you guys had met our manager friend." Marissa said when Seth and Summer emerged from the air duct. "We've got to find a way off the roof."
Summer stuck close to Seth, something that didn't escape anyone's attention. "There's got to be a fire escape ladder around her somewhere." She pointed out. "It's against the law and all those building codes not to have one." Seth looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What? I actually paid attention in economics class."
It didn't take them long to find a fire escape ladder and climbing down to the bottom level was much easier then scaling the bathroom to get to the air vent as far as Seth was concerned. Ryan and Marissa walked side by side as they headed out of the parking lot, putting the Mexican motel behind them.
Seth was the last one off the fire escape ladder and Summer grabbed his hand, pulling him forward and jogging to catch up with Ryan and Marissa. "I can't wait to see what happens when we get to T.J." She grinned when they had caught up with the others. It didn't escape Seth's attention that she didn't let go of his hand even after they had joined Ryan and Marissa.
Ryan groaned. "Isn't this trip over yet?"