Part 3

Seth watched Summer as she slept. He had been there for hours, but he couldn't leave her. Not until she woke up and he could make sure that she was okay. Well, as okay as possible in the god awful situation. He had to talk to her and make it better for her.

Summer stretched as she sat up on the couch. "Oh, God."

Seth walked over to her, but didn't touch her. "Hey."

"Hi, what are you doing here?"

"After what you said, how could you think that I'd leave without talking to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Summer, I just- I need you to explain what happened."

"Seth-."

"Please."

"I said no. I don't want to, but he wouldn't stop, okay? I don't want to say anything else."

"Okay." He paused. "Has he hassled you or anything since it happened?"

"Not really."

"What does the mean?"

"He called a few times after, but I guess he got the message when I didn't call him. But yesterday at school, he tried to talk to me again."

"You want me to make him stop?"

"How would you do that?" Seth pumped his fists.

"With these babies, of course." Summer smirked.

"Right. I doubt he'd be afraid, but thanks."

"No problem. You know, I guess I'd better be going."

"Seth, will you stay? Please? I don't want to be alone."

"Okay, of course. Sure. If you need me to." Summer smiled at him, happy that there was someone here she actually trusted. She curled into a little ball and fell asleep almost immediately. Seth found a blanket, covering her with it. He couldn't believe that someone had done this to her. His sweet beautiful Summer was changed forever. And there was not a single thing that he could do to fix it. He couldn't make it better and that thought almost killed him. He had loved her for so long and there was nothing he could do to change this for her.

Summer woke up early the next morning, like she always did. She was surprised to find herself lying on the couch. She was confused for a few seconds until she saw Seth sleeping in a chair next to her. She remembered asking Seth to stay with her. She was glad he did and hoped she didn't have any nightmares that scared him. It felt good that he knew what happened. At least she wasn't all alone anymore. She glanced at the clock and saw that Seth needed to get up. She shook his arm. "Seth." He smiled sleepily at her.

"Hi, Summer."

"Hi. So, you probably need to get home to change." He looked at his watch.

"Oh, man. I wanted to get home before my parents woke up."

"They don't know you're here?"

"No, I forgot to call. I'd better go. I'll see you at school."

"Uh, no. I think I'm going to stay home today. I just can't deal with him." Seth nodded.

"All right. Um, you know, I was thinking that maybe you should to somebody about this."

"No, I can't talk to Marissa or any of my friends about this. They wouldn't understand."

"Okay, I get that. But I wasn't even talking about your friends. I was thinking maybe a counselor or somebody."

"No way."

"Summer-"

"Just drop it, Seth. I don't want to tell anyone. And you had better not say anything to anyone either."

"I won't."

"You promise?"

"I promise. I don't think it's the smartest idea, but I won't if you don't want me to."

"Okay, good. Thank you. For staying here last night, I mean."

"Your welcome."

"Um, listen. I'm glad you stayed, but I have to say, this doesn't mean that we are-"

"Summer, don't worry. I understand. You probably aren't ready for that."

"All right."

"So, I'm gonna go. I'll see you."

"Good bye."

Seth walked into his house, cutting through the kitchen and hoping against hope that his parents were still asleep. He had absolutely no luck. His parents were sitting at the kitchen table. "Hello."

"Seth, where the hell were you last night?" Sandy stood up and walked closer to his son.

"I- I was helping a friend out."

"And it didn't occur to you to call?"

"No, she was in trouble. I couldn't leave her."

"Who was it? Are they okay?"

"I can't tell. She made me promise."

"You can't tell?" Kirsten asked, frowning.

"No, I can't."

"Well, that isn't good enough."

"Kirsten-"

"No, Sandy. He takes off to Tahiti for the summer and says nothing to us for months. And now he's staying out all night without calling. I'm not putting up with it any longer. Seth, you're grounded."

"Mom-"

"I don't want to hear it. You are to come home as soon as school lets out. Now go get ready for school."

Seth and Ryan walked the halls together. Ryan didn't say anything about Seth's not coming and Seth was extremely grateful for that. He was dying to tell someone about Summer, but he knew that he would kill him if he did. Summer needed to be able to trust him. He looked up and saw Tanner standing at the end of the hall. Seth's blood boiled and he started walking toward him almost without knowing what he was doing. He grabbed Tanner's arm.

"Cohen, what the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked, yanking his arm away.

"I know what you did to her."

"Oh, this is about Summer. Look, I'm sorry she cheated on you, but that happens."

"She didn't cheat on me. You forced her-"

"Is that what she told you? She's lying, man. Trying to make excuses for what she did." Seth turned red and went to hit Tanner, but Tanner blocked his punch and hit him in the eye. Seth fell to the ground and Tanner kicked him. "Don't go spreading that story around. I wouldn't want to have to hurt you again." Tanner walked away.

Seth and Ryan walked towards their house. Ryan looked over at Seth. "You okay, man?"

"Uh-huh. I just I need to go over to Summer's and make sure she's okay."

"She slept with someone else; why did you care?"

"Look, you don't know what you're talking about. Just drop it."

"Fine, but you're parents are going to flip if you try to leave."

"I know." The two boys walked inside and saw Sandy and Kirsten. Seth tried to avoid looking at them, but they saw his black eye.

"Oh my God, Seth. What happened?" Kirsten tried touch his face, but he shrugged her off.

"Nothing, okay? I'm going to my room." He walked away and the two adults looked at Ryan.

"So, what happened?"

Summer sat staring in front of the television, not really watching it. She wondered if Seth would come by today. He hadn't said anything about it, but she hoped he would. It was strange, but she didn't made him hanging around, despite the fact that she really wanted to be alone. He made her feel safe.

Kirsten knocked on Seth's door and walked into his room. He was staring at the ceiling. "Hi, Seth."

"Hi, Mom."

"Ryan told me how you got that black eye." Seth sat up.

"Ryan doesn't know anything."

"I know it hurts that Summer slept with someone else, but-"

"She didn't leave with someone else."

"Honey-"

"Mom, she told me what happened. And I'd tell you if I could, but I can't. She made me promise not to."

"What do you mean?"

"Mom-"

"I want to help you. And I want to help Summer." Seth sighed.

"She's going to be so mad at me."

"Maybe. But maybe I can help her."

"She didn't sleep with him, he- he forced her. He made her do it." Kirsten turned white.

"He raped her?" Seth nodded, as he felt the tears coming.

"Yeah, Mom. She's so upset." Kirsten hugged him, wondering how she was going to help her son and Summer.