A/N: Sorry for all of the difficulties in getting out this next installment (obviously, I'm just not that good at the whole "updating" thing. I promise I'll try harder the next go 'round). Anyway, here's chapter two, and I hope ya'll like it!

This is Summer's point-of-view, after Seth's departure. I swear, this will eventually turn into a REAL story, with a full-fledged plot line and everything! Just laying out the groundwork here, folks.

[[ Broken ]]

Summer walked out of the Cohen's front door with a solemn look on her face. It was really sweet of Kirsten to offer to let her stay at the house for a while, but truth be told, the woman wasn't doing all that well herself. Summer couldn't put Kirsten through that. She had just lost both of her sons in one fell swoop. Although, as selfish as it may seem, the real reason for Summer's quick departure was to feign indifference.

The Cohens had left her to privately read Seth's letter, but that didn't take long. When she emerged from his room teary-eyed, they had kindly offered her food and drink, as well as the pool house to gather her thoughts. That wasn't a good idea, though. They had shared so many kisses in that same pool house. There was no way she would be able to step foot in there, not after reading Seth's letter.

The letter was ambiguous at best. It had told her none of Seth's motives, or what he was trying to accomplish. It never even clearly stated why he had left in the first place. The fact that he didn't state when he would be back was not lost on her, either. Fear coursed through her body as she pondered over the fact of whether Seth had left permanently. She quickly erased the thought from her head.

'You can't think like that,' she scolded herself.

Her fear of his departure being permanent dissipated as she convinced herself that he would be back. However, as that fear decreased, Summer's anger increased. Call it habitual if you want, but Summer Roberts could not be sad without shortly getting pissed off soon after. However, the anger was not guided towards Seth or anyone else as much as she would have liked it to be, but rather, her anger was geared towards herself.

Summer was angry that Seth had left so abruptly, but she was also beginning to feel as though she could have prevented it. She had seen the sullen look on his face at his grandfather's party. He had said he wanted to be left alone, but she was able to read through it then, and looking back in retrospect, she could still read through it. Seth Cohen wanted someone to be there. It was a cliché sentiment, but it was true. He had perfected indifference for his entire childhood, having always been the outcast in young Newport society. Much of that was as much his doing as it was the doing of the little brats that created such cliques. Even after it all, however, it was apparent that Seth still needed the one thing, despite his loving parents and abundant family wealth – friendship.

As Summer was mentally kicking herself for not sitting with Seth at his grandfather's party, she thought back to the little attention, much less affection, she had given him before. She had barely acknowledged his existence before, and for that, her anger towards herself increased.

As Summer reached the bottom of the Cohens' driveway, she turned around and looked at the mansion. She felt her heart break as she thought of Seth, lonely and broken, and for the first time that day, she began to see a similarity between the two of them.

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I want to hold you high and steal your pain away I keep your photograph;
I know it serves me well I want to hold you high and steal your pain
'Cause I'm broken when I'm open And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome And I don't feel light when you're gone away

[[ musical credit ]] "Broken" by Seether, featuring Amy Lee