THE PARTY

Rachel had now stopped sleeping in Seth's room and again joined Ryan in the pool house. He was happy to have the company again but wished that things could finally be made right between his sister and Seth. An obvious tension now filled the house as the ex-couple avoided each other at all costs.

Rachel was still feeling the blow of Christmas and found it increasingly hard to connect with any member of the house out of fear that something would be done or said to create conflict.

Seth's unmistakable humour had now seemed to have found its end, and he had taken to the art of brooding over what had happened that fateful night.

.........

During the night Seth's bed felt empty. He missed the warmth, which Rachel brought, missed the smell of her hair, the way she seemed to fit perfectly into his arms. He missed watching her fall asleep knowing that in the morning he would wake up and she would be right there beside him, waiting to face another day together.

It was 2am and still he had not rested, just thinking of her made him restless. Seth ran the past days over in his head, thinking of all of the opportunities which he had had to talk things through and try and mend the tare in the relationship.

Seth lay awake, staring at the blackened ceiling.

.........

Rachel's eye's shot open but the images which had plagued her mind remained. Everything cold. Ryan laying motionless on the vinyl floor, his eyes closed, body still. A frightening breeze whistled by as AJ smiled. There mothers latest boyfriend held in his hand a hunting knife.

Still half asleep and slightly shaking Rachel turned to the other side of the bed.

"Seth..."she whispered.

Ryan lay there, eyes closed, still asleep.

Seth?

Rachel couldn't help but think the only reason why she had said the name was because that's who she wanted to see next to her. The one person whom she wanted to tell her that nothing she had seen was real. That it was just a dream.

She wanted him back.

.........

The following morning Seth was heading into the kitchen whistling to a made up tune when he was intercepted by Ryan and forced to follow him back the way he had come.

"Something about the way I'm facing isn't quite right," he said, his back now turned toward his original destination.

"She wants you back," Ryan said.

Seth looked at him blankly.

"I'm sorry?"

Ryan began to explain. "I was trying to get to sleep last night when Rach woke up and said your name like she wanted you."

"Oh no, I'm not going down this road again. Refer back to the amazing door in my face I received on Christmas curtesy of your darling sister."

"Look, Seth, you guys had something."

"Yes, and now thanks to the door in my face, we don't."

"No, thanks to the amazing pole up your ass, you don't."

"In ways of compliments, that wasn't really one."

Ryan sighed and tried to think of how he could convince his friend to stand and face what he had done.

"Just talk to her, even if you don't want to get back together."

"Who says I don't want to get back together?"

"Then talk to her, women like that."

Seth laughed. "Since when do you know anything about women?"

Ryan only stared at him, the look enough to answer the question.

"Okay point taken. Will get on that, right away."

.........

Later that day Rachel was doing laps in the swimming poll trying to keep her body moving when Seth stepped outside and began to watch her. She didn't stop to greet him until he called her over.

Seth crouched beside the pool and ran his fingers through the water.

"I was hoping we could talk."

Rachel stopped on the opposite side to him and tread water from a moment before sinking below the surface. When she re-emerged she was directly in front of Seth, holding onto the side of the pool.

Seth had to force himself not to stare at her. He knew that it could only make matters worse if she noticed his eyes trailing up and down her bikini-clad body.

Guess she really took that 'no more hiding' business to heart, he thought.

"You're not gonna get out?" He asked.

Rachel looked around at the water and then back at him.

"I'm good," she replied.

Seth took a deep breath in and began. "Look, about Christmas..."

"What about it?"

"I never really got to...explain."

"My eyes pretty much did that one for me."

"No," Seth was really trying now, trying to get her see that this was a genuine apology. "You don't understand."

"Seth," Rachel said stopping his hand from moving through the water. "I don't need to understand." He voice was calm and even.

"So...you're not still mad?" Seth asked hopefully.

"I was never mad." Rachel thought for a second. "No, wait, that's a lie."

Seth nodded sheepishly.

"I was more disappointed."

"What can I do to make it right again?" Seth ended the question with something that he dearly hoped Rachel would be optimistic about. "Do you want to give this another try."

Rachel looked deep within his eyes.

"Yes...but you have to prove to me that you're not like the others. You're not going to go around behind my back."

"Rach I would never..."

She gave him a look.

"Will never do that again. I promise. You mean more to me than anything else. You make me feel like no one else ever has, or could. I just want you to be happy."

Rachel laughed at that, she couldn't help it. Seth wasn't one to be a huge romantic at all times, he usually just payed extra attention to her and dropped a few compliments. So hearing him talk like a character out of a love story was highly amusing for her.

"This is so weird," Rachel whispered. "I've just...I've never felt like this about someone before but..."

Uh-oh, here it comes, Seth thought.

"I don't know if I could do this again, I don't know if I could honestly look at you and not see Summer or Anna hanging off your arm."

Seth felt cold then; the words had hit him hard. He thought that he was a shoe-in, that she would say yes and they would kiss and everything would be okay like in the movies.

"They're not here, they will never be here," Seth said waving his arms about.

Rachel nodded knowing deep within herself that he was telling the truth.

"So, how are you going to do this?" She asked.

"Well," Seth said moving a little closer to the pool's edge. "First I'm going to kiss you."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah."

Seth leaned forward and Rachel pushed herself up to meet him as their lips met and their make-up was finalised. She took a hold of the front of his shirt for what Seth though was support. His theory was corrected however when Rachel pulled back and tugged at the garment, causing him to toppled forward into the pool fully clothed.

"That's for the kiss with Wonder Whore," she said when he re-emerged shaking his the water from his hair.

"Oh really?" Seth asked diving forward and taking chase after her.

Rachel ducked under the water and swam as fast as possible. When she finally hit the surface again Seth had her cornered. He moved forward and snaked a hand through her hair, looking into her eyes and smiling.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," he whispered.

Rachel stared back smiling at her re-kindled love.

"I know what you mean," she replied.

Seth drew her close and kissed her again and from the window Ryan smiled.

"So are you going to come to the party with me tomorrow night?" Seth asked, helping Rachel out of the pool and rapping a towel around her shoulders.

"What party?"

"Some guys from downtown are holding it, supposed to be big."

"Downtown?" Rachel asked. "As in the bad side of town? Seth I know what these guys are like, I grew up with them, you don't want to get involved."

"But It'll be fun," he insisted.

"Is Ry' going?"

"I think I could convince him."

Rachel sighed and Seth couldn't help but do a little Snoopy Dance.

.........

The next night Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Rachel entered the party only to be confronted by what Ryan and Rachel had suspected from the start. Music pumped loudly and bodies moved everywhere, dancing, drinking and smoking.

"Just like old times," Ryan mumbled.

"Déjà vu ain't all it's cracked up to be," Rachel replied.

Seth and Marissa were already moving to the music, eager to join the crowd.

"I'll take you up ten bucks for which ever one of us can spot the first gun," Ryan challenged.

Rachel's eyes swept over the crowd, surveying each and every person with precision that could have only come from years of experience.

"Guy, back corner, got a 9-millimeter," she said quietly.

Seth followed her line of site. "Where?"

They all watched as the man's partner ran her hand up his back, and sure enough, a 9-millimeter gun was secured at the back of his belt.

Rachel held out her hand and Ryan handed over the cash.

"Nice one," he said.

"How'd you do that?" Marissa asked.

Rachel only looked at her. She didn't need to say anything for Marissa to understand that this was something she and Ryan saw everyday when they were growing up. Something that they would both like to forget.

.........

Later that night an argument began to surge between two drunken men over a girl and a poker game. Seth and Rachel were brought inside by the racket and quickly spotted Ryan and Marissa who stood not too far away.

Rachel raised a single eyebrow at her brother and he nodded.

Suddenly the tallest of the men pulled out a gun – one which none of them had spotted – and began waving it around his head.

Screams shot through the room as people began to duck and back away not wanting to get caught in the line of fire.

Ryan stepped in then.

"Look, you don't have to do this," he said calmly trying to convince the man to give up his weapon.

Rachel turned to Seth. "Get Marissa out of here," she whispered.

"What?"

"Seth, just do it."

Seth moved away, obeying what his girlfriend said, knowing full well that she was pulling another stunt like the one when Marsal had first attacked. She wanted him out of harms way and something about that made Seth angry inside. He was meant to protect her, not the other way around.

The non-gun wielder was now yelling loudly at Ryan, screeching about his man hood and dignity. Ryan put his hands up in defence but that didn't stop him from continuing his rant.

Suddenly the mans eyes went wide and he collapsed to the floor, shot.

"Night, night," the gun holder chanted.

Ryan tried again, this time more strongly. "Look, man, he's out, give it up."

"I ain't your man, Punk!" The man fumed.

He turned on Ryan and pointed the gun directly at him, but before he could react he felt a barrel pressing against his head. Turning slightly he saw Rachel standing there, gun poised, finger on the trigger.

Seth stood in shock. The moment the man had turned on Ryan, Rachel had pulled the gun from the dead victim's waistband so fast he barely registered it.

"Drop it moron," Rachel hissed.

The man only laughed. "A pretty girl like you don't know how to use one of them things."

Rachel pulled back the top section of the gun, hearing the bullets snap into line with the barrel.

"Don't I?"

The man visibly gulped. "Why don't you give me that before you hurt yourself?"

"Why don't you drop that before I decorate the wall with your brain?"

He took another look at Ryan who still stood in his original place, before slowly putting down the gun and stepping away. His eyes scanned the room for a moment before he bolted out the door and into the street.

Rachel lowered the weapon.

"They'll never change," she whispered.

Rachel looked down at the gun she held before un-arming it and ripping the bullets out. She through the empty shell to Ryan who threw it to the grown and slammed his foot down on the barrel preventing anyone else from using it.

They looked at each other then. Brother and sister sharing another memory of their troubled past before turning and walking out of the house, Seth and Marissa following behind.

On the way out Rachel took the ammunition she held and threw it as far as she could into a blackened alleyway wishing that she could throw away everything in her life that related to what she had just seen.

TO BE CONTINUED.........

(I told you, you give me idea's and I deliver. My original idea was to never actually get Seth and Rachel back together but I guess it works out pretty good, and plus, all you guys wanted it so hey, what can I say? Will update soon. Please Review.)