Summer hugged the small, heart-shaped pillow closer to her chest. She was sitting on her bed and chatting on the phone with Marissa. She was currently listening to her friend's tale of what had happened at the Cohens' home several days ago.

"You're sure this whole amnesia thing is real and not some ploy to get a little sympathy?" she asked.

"What? Of course it's real. How could you say that?" Marissa shot back, sounding shocked.

"Well, come on! Who the hell gets amnesia? It's like some plot from 'The Valley' or something."

"It's real," Marissa assured her. "You should have seen him, Sum. It was pretty freaky. He looked so lost."

Summer gave it some more thought. "Yeah, it must be real. He so sucks at lying. He could never pull something like that off."

She had been relieved to know that Seth had emerged from the coma. Apparently, it had happened the same day she'd gone to visit him in the hospital. Not for hours later, mind you, but still. She secretly liked to think that she'd been the key to snapping him out of it. He must have heard her after all. But this memory loss twist had her baffled. "So he remembered you. And your mom. But not Chino."

"Right."

"And he didn't mention me?"

Summer heard an exasperated sound. "I told you, he barely said two words to everyone before he hid in his room. He never came down again. My mother was furious, of course, even though she tried to hide it."

"You don't think he's forgotten me, do you?"

"Um...probably not. I think he remembered me because we were neighbours for so long. But he's been in love with you since before he was born, right? So how could he forget you?"

"Yeah. 'Cause I'm unforgettable."

Summer knew that sounded smug but she needed the reassurance. It was bad enough that Seth had sailed off into the sunset. It was unthinkable that he wouldn't remember her.

"So when are you going to see him?" Marissa asked.

"Soon."

"When?"

"Soon."

"Why are you stalling?"

Summer was crushing the pillow so tightly against herself, she couldn't breathe properly. She loosened her grip slightly.

"I don't know," she finally replied.

But she did know. Right now, she had her anger and resentment to keep her going. Keep her strong. After seeing Seth in his hospital room, she'd totally lost it in the elevator. Bawled like a baby. She never cried over boys. She made them cry. So why was it that Seth Cohen had such power over her? She was afraid of breaking down again in front of him. That would hurt too much.

Especially if he had forgotten her.

"So what's happening with you and Chino?" she asked.

"You're changing the subject," Marissa pointed out wryly.

"Yeah, so? I know you want to tell me."

Summer listened patiently as Marissa told her all about Ryan's miraculous return to Newport. She was sincerely happy for Coop. As much as she hated to admit it, Chino had grown on her. Perhaps now, all would be right in her friend's universe.

Summer's universe, however, was severely screwed up. And it was all Cohen's fault.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ryan tossed aside the book he'd been reading and answered his cell phone. "Hello?"

"Chino, hey!"

He was surprised to hear the familiar voice. "Summer?"

"Yeah, it's me. I just wanted to say howdy and welcome back."

He settled back into the chair again. "Right. What do you really want?"

"Can't a girl just call up a friend to say hi without the friend getting all suspicious?"

"Sure. So what do you want?"

"Fine. I want to know what Cohen's been up to. Has he mentioned me at all?"

"Nope. But then again, I've barely spoken to the guy. Or I should say, he's barely spoken to me."

"Really."

"Yeah. It's been kind of...awkward around here." That was the understatement of the year. But he didn't feel like hashing over all the details with her. "Why don't you come and see him for yourself?"

"I will. I will." She almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "You're sure he hasn't mentioned me?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Summer. Not to me, anyway."

She sounded truly disappointed. "Okay. Well, I have to go. Bye."

The connection was abruptly severed. With a shake of his head, he snapped the phone shut. Nice to know some things hadn't changed around here. Summer was as self-centered as always.

Seth had been avoiding him like the plague. Since coming home from the hospital, he'd basically shut himself in his room. The only time Ryan saw him was during meals and even then, Seth barely spoke. The mood was always strained, even though Sandy and Kirsten did their best to keep the discussions flowing. Ryan had to admit, he hadn't done much to keep up his end of the conversations. He simply didn't feel like talking either. Whenever Seth did venture to say something, it was usually brief and snappish. None of his memory was coming back and it was obviously weighing heavily on him. Ryan supposed he couldn't blame the guy for being in a foul mood. But unless the memories started coming back soon, it was going to be a long summer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seth stood on the deck, looking over at the pool house. What was he waiting for? He should just go over to Ryan and ask him. But still, he hesitated. He didn't know Ryan. He didn't even like Ryan. Well, that wasn't quite true. Since he didn't know the guy, he couldn't really make any claim to not liking him.

Then he had a different idea. He'd rather talk to someone he actually knew. Sort of knew, anyway. Sitting down on one of the deck chairs, he got out his cell phone. This handy gadget was an example of the daily bewilderments he faced. He knew what it was. He knew how to use it. He did not, however, remember how he'd come to possess it. Had it been a gift? Had he bought it himself? No clue.

Out of curiosity, he scrolled past the name he'd been looking for to see if another would come up. And look, there it was.

Summer Roberts.

She was just a phone call away.

He stared at the name for a few seconds more before hastily scrolling back up again to safer territory. He just wasn't ready for that yet.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Marissa? It's Seth."

"Hi! How are you?"

"Oh, you know. Just trying to figure out who the heck I am, that's all. Listen, are you still friends with Summer Roberts?"

"Yeah. She's my best friend. Why?"

He tried to sound casual but knew he was failing miserably. "Oh, I've been going through some stuff in my room and I found her picture. And she's programmed in my cell phone. I'm not, like, stalking her, am I?"

Marissa laughed loudly. "No, silly. You're going out with her. At least, you were until you took off sailing." She stopped suddenly, sounding cautious. "Hey, um, I don't know how much I should be saying, here. Did you even know about going sailing?"

"Yeah, yeah, my parents told me about that. They never mentioned Summer, though." What Marissa had just told him finally sunk in. "You mean, Summer's my girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

Seth took a deep breath to avoid fainting onto the deck. This was mind-boggling. The planets must have been misaligned for something this staggering to have happened.

"Seth? Are you still there?"

"Uh huh."

"So you remember her, right?"

"Sure. I've only been in love with her since before I was born." He heard Marissa giggle. "What?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"Well, I need you to explain everything to me. I never even talked to Summer before. How did she end up being my girlfriend?"

"You know, I don't think I should be the one telling you about this. You should call her."

Just the thought of it scared him to death. "No way. Besides, I'm the one who miraculously survived a life and death situation, right? Why doesn't she call me?" He mulled that over for a moment. "Hey, yeah, why hasn't she called me?"

"She went to see you at the hospital," Marissa informed him.

"Really?" Huh. No one had mentioned that to him either. What else had his parents neglected to tell him? No mention of Summer. No mention of the former Mrs. Cooper being his new grandmother. They had, however, filled him in all about Ryan. It seemed like all he'd heard was how wonderful it was that Ryan had come into their lives. How thrilled they were to have him back where he belongs. They encouraged Seth to spend time with Ryan and get to know him again. The harder they pushed, the more he resisted. It was, perhaps, not the most mature way to be acting. But right now, he couldn't give a flying fuck about trying to be mature.

He turned his head, seeing movement out of the corner of his eye. The man himself was coming towards him. "I have to go," he said quickly. "Thanks, Marissa."

"Hey," Ryan greeted him.

Seth nodded. "Hey."

"So, uh, I was wondering if you want to go down to the pier? Maybe grab some lunch?"

"Nah. I'm not up for that." He was actually being truthful. Although he was gaining his strength back, the process was taking longer than he'd like.

"A round of video games then?"

"You don't strike me as the games kind of guy."

Ryan laughed softly. "It's grown on me. I actually missed it in Chino. I've gotten pretty good, you know. I learned from the best."

Seth stood up, only one destination in mind. His room. "I'm not exactly into fun and games right now. Some other time." He turned to go, only to find Ryan back in his face.

"Hey, would you cut me some slack here? I know I'm this complete stranger to you but I'd like to change that. We used to be really good friends, man. Won't you at least talk to me?"

Seth hesitated, feeling torn. Part of him appreciated Ryan's efforts. He really did. But he just wasn't up to it. Not yet. "Look, apparently you're this great guy and I know we were best buddies. But I'm just trying to figure things out for myself right now, okay? My parents are happy that you're here, so I'm happy that they're happy. Just...just give me some space."

"Okay," Ryan said simply.

Seth strode past him and retreated back to his room. He glanced at the photo of Summer that he'd found. Summer, his girlfriend. It didn't seem real. It defied comprehension. It was perhaps the scariest revelation that he'd had since waking from the coma. Thrilling, but scary. Like the roller coaster at Disneyland. He could only pray that when he finally came face-to-face with her, he wouldn't have the same physical reaction that he'd had to the roller coaster. Somehow, he didn't think Summer would find that very impressive.

A/N: Okay, it seems I need to ease some readers' concerns. First, let me try to explain Seth's memory loss the way I see it. He remembers everything that's happened the first twelve or so years of his life (that would explain his thought about Kirsten's rambling as "usually his father's territory"). He does NOT have the mental capacity of a twelve-year-old. So, for example, he will speak as the Seth we know today and still has the ability to carry on as normal in high school.

Now, on to the question of 'where is Summer'. This is most definitely a major S/S fic while R/M will play supporting roles. I don't know exactly how many chapters there will be but at this point, we're probably about one quarter of the way through the whole story. So please, I ask for your patience. I hope you're in this with me for the long haul. This is not an instant gratification fic and there won't be much fluff. Don't get me wrong...I love fluff too but that's not the tone of this story. There is actually a point to each chapter and hopefully you'll decide to see it through to the end. I do promise that the next chapter will feature S/S interaction.

Oh, and whoever wrote "Next Chapter"...that was actually pretty good! There, that's my review of your review. LOL! But alas, that's not exactly how it's going to pan out.

As always, thanks for the reviews and now, I'm going to stop my rambling. :-)